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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24710950">Rokushi Week 2020</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanficWriter827/pseuds/FanficWriter827'>FanficWriter827</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kingdom Hearts</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adjusting to normal life, Battle Couple, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Marriage Proposal, Music, Mutual Pining, Rokushi Week 2020, Sea Salt Ice Cream (Kingdom Hearts)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 11:01:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>35,848</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24710950</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanficWriter827/pseuds/FanficWriter827</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Instead of there being just Rokushi Day on 6/20, this year we instead have Rokushi Week which starts from 6/14 and goes until 6/20. There are 7 prompts and themes that I've written for and I hope you enjoy them as I update the story for each day.<br/>Day 1: Mutual Pining/Confession<br/>Day 2: Future/Marriage<br/>Day 3: Vacation/Ice Cream<br/>Day 4: Training/Battle Couple<br/>Day 5: Music Duo/Rock Band<br/>Day 6: Adjusting to Normal Life/After KH3<br/>Day 7: Free Day</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Roxas/Xion (Kingdom Hearts)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Mutually Dense</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The prompt for the first day is Mutual Pining / Confession. Mutual Pining is always a great trope and a great way to start this week. I hope that I did the trope justice.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Naminé wanted to scream in frustration, she honestly really did.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For the past few weeks, she’s had to bear witness to her two friends constantly dancing around their feelings for each other. It was obvious to everyone aside from the two of them that they were crushing on each other hard. Admittedly though, it made sense.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas and Xion were still relatively new to the idea of having hearts and emotions and as such wouldn’t quite recognize certain feelings immediately as a result. However, it was equal parts endearing and frustrating to watch their antics.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She’d often think to herself about just how long it will be before they finally notice the blatantly obvious. What didn’t help matters was the unique insight that she had on the pair.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was common knowledge amongst everyone in their small group of friends that she was able to not only view other people’s memories but also even alter them to an extent. For obvious reasons though she doesn’t pry into any of their memories without their permission. Not too long ago though, her friends in Twilight Town asked her for a favor.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They’ve asked her to look into Roxas’s and Xion’s memories in order to make sure that everything is ok. When Xion faded away, everyone who ever knew her forgot who she was. Roxas and Xion want to make sure that they still remember everything.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In Roxas’s case he wants to make sure that he remembers Xion completely. Xion wanted Naminé to make sure that none of her own memories had been altered as a result of the New Organization XIII’s actions when they brought her back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Naminé agreed as she figured that it would be a good opportunity to talk to Roxas and Xion so that all of three of them could be better friends. Despite everything that she did for the two of them, none of them really got a chance to just casually talk to each other.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Naminé spoke to Xion the circumstances were dire as Xion wanted her to take care of Roxas when she was gone. Shortly after, Naminé did her best to take care of Roxas and let him know the truth about what was going at the time. Despite her best efforts, she was only able to speak to Roxas for a few minutes at best. Roxas and Xion were also both eager to speak to her as well.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Every few weeks she’d be taken to Twilight Town to stay for a few days as she worked with the pair. Either way it was still an excuse for her to go and visit her new friends. Whenever she looked into their memories, she saw them in vivid detail. She would also feel echoes of what they felt in that moment. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If there was one immediate conclusion that she could come to, it was that the two of them are absolutely in love with each other.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So many of their memories are just the two of them together. Another thing is that she would also hear anything they were thinking as well during the memory that she was looking at.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Personally, Naminé considered it invasive to hear their thoughts but it was a consequence of her powers. She unfortunately can’t control what she sees and hears during their sessions. However, she still makes it a point to filter out the thoughts that she does hear.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Whenever they began a new session Naminé would start by filtering through their most recent memories in order to get back to where she left off. This was how she really learned just how much they adored each other by way of having to briefly witness these newer memories.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now that they were no longer nobodies their feelings were amplified. Old memories became more intense as their new hearts let them look back at those moments with a new perspective. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Whether that was because of Naminé digging around their memories or just their hearts naturally adapting to the new circumstances she couldn’t quite say. One thing she did know though was that while the memories she went through were quite intense, they were clouded by a feeling of uncertainty.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Why does he feel so uncertain? Is he doubting something about his relationship with Xion? Perhaps he’s finally starting to question if he just simply sees her as a friend or if he feels something stronger for her. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Naminé wondered to herself after their previous session.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It wasn’t just his past memories that were clouded with uncertainty. His more recent memories were also chock full of these sentiments. Naminé got the distinct impression that he was lonely, that he missed her terribly. When she had asked where Xion was Lea had told her that Xion had gone off to The Land of Departure for a couple days. It would explain why he’s been more quiet than usual.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The pair spent a lot of time together and combined with their growing feelings, Naminé came to the conclusion that he was simply just pining for her. Though she didn’t need to be able to see into his mind to figure out how much he enjoys being around Xion. Even if she didn’t have her memory altering powers it was still plainly obvious just how much they adored each other.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Last time she was in Twilight Town she was invited up to the clock tower by the pair. It was just the three of them up there but from what she heard it was one of their usual spots to hang out within their circle of friends in this town. While it was supposed to be a casual get together amongst the three of them, Naminé felt like an accomplice to an awkward date.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It all started when she arrived with Xion and Roxas was there to greet them. Unprompted, Xion pulled Roxas into a tight hug and buried herself into his neck. In return, he rocked her back and forth, rubbing her back with one of his hands. When they pulled back Naminé saw that they were both blushing messes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Roxas handed Xion her ice cream there was an uncomfortable silence between the two before he spoke up, “You look nice today, did you do something with your hair?” Naminé did her best to hide a teasing grin as she watched the two awkwardly blunder around the underlying romantic tension.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The worst part is that she can’t even be the matchmaker and just set them up by telling them what they thought of each other. She promised that she wouldn’t tell anyone about any of the stuff that she saw in their memories. As much as she wanted them to get together, she also respected their privacy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After all, it was only a matter of time before one of them actually put two and two together. She just hoped that it would be sooner rather than later.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright Roxas, you can sit up now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas opened his eyes and sat up, turning his head to look at Naminé. “Did you see anything unusual?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Naminé shook her head, “Nope, so far so good. None of your memories seem to be altered.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He let out a sigh of relief, “That’s good. Sometimes I’m worried about whether or not being put into that digital Twilight Town messed with my brain. Are my memories of Xion still good?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She smiled, </span>
  <em>
    <span>even when we’re talking about him, he still thinks about Xion first. </span>
  </em>
  <span>“Your memories of her are still perfect. I think we’re good for now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Cool.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Anything else you wanted to do today?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He shrugged “Not really, I was going to go down to the market today.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Were you thinking of going anywhere in particular?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not really, I was thinking about picking up a present for Xion. You know, something to surprise her with.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Unable to resist the urge to tease him, she playfully wagged a finger at him, “She’s only been gone for a few days Roxas.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He fidgeted nervously, “Yeah but I learned about something recently that I could get for her.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She cocked her head, “Oh?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ve noticed pairs of people going around wearing matching rings, I figured me and Xion could do the same. To show how close we are.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Admittedly Naminé didn’t know what people wearing matching rings actually meant. She did know however that it was a romantic thing that people did when they loved each other. </span>
  <em>
    <span>How can you be this dense Roxas?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A little while later and the pair were in front of the jewelry store at the market. Roxas was looking at the various trinkets that were laid out. Getting on her toes and craning her head, she attempted to look over his shoulder to try and see what he was looking at.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The lady at the stand bore a friendly smile, “See you anything you like sir?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Naminé could see that Roxas had his hand under in his chin as he mulled over the items. Glancing at them for a few seconds more before sighing and turning to Naminé, “I’m not sure what Xion would like, you got any ideas Naminé?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The saleslady spoke up, “Ah, so you’re buying it for Xion today Roxas?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes. I was thinking of getting her something that I think would look good on her.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The saleslady politely smiled at him, “Well isn’t she lucky to have such a caring boyfriend.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Boyfriend? I mean I’m a boy and her friend but it isn’t anything special, just looking to buy her something nice for when she gets back.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Naminé had to actively fight the urge to groan as the saleslady now bore a confused expression. To her credit, the saleslady’s confusion quickly went away as she regained her composure, “I see. Well if I may, can I help you with a selection?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas shook his head dismissively, “Sorry, I was just browsing. Sorry to bother you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The saleslady donned another cool smile, “That’s quite alright Roxas, please come again another time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As the pair walked away, Naminé could see that something was on Roxas’s mind. She walked ahead to a nearby bench and motioned Roxas towards it, patting an empty spot next to her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Something on your mind Roxas?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, what did that lady mean by calling me Xion’s boyfriend exactly?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It felt strange to Naminé that she had to be the one to explain to Roxas what such terms meant. After all, she’s only had a heart for about the same time that they did. However, she did learn quite a bit about such things from Riku when they spent that year working together.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well when it comes to intense relationships between two people, the two terms that normally used are boyfriend and girlfriend. They are used to describe people who are in a romantic relationship with another person. She assumed that Xion is your girlfriend and that you were buying her a romantic gift.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh okay, so why did she assume that it was a romantic gift?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Naminé shrugged, “Typically when a boy is buying a girl jewelry, it’s seen as a romantic gesture.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas slightly frowned, “Come to think of it, that isn’t the first-time people have called me Xion’s boyfriend or have called Xion my girlfriend. Why do people keep saying those things?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Naminé took a deep breath before explaining, “Well people see how close the two of you are and they assume that you’re a couple.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A couple?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A couple in this context refers to two people who are in a romantic relationship.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are we really that close?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now Naminé felt exasperated, “Of course you are, the two of you always seem to be glued to each other. People also see the looks two of you give each other and how much you talk about each other. They think that the two of you are in love with each other.” She declined to also mention all of the awkward and unintentional flirting between the two.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas bashfully averted his gaze, “I don’t look at her that much. I mean she is gorgeous, has a beautiful smile, has radiant hair that always seems to reflect the light from the sun nicely, and her eyes always look so bright and vibrant; but that doesn’t mean anything. You make it sound like I think about her all the time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think you and I both know that’s a lie Roxas</span>
  <em>
    <span>.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
  <em>
    <span>If only you knew just how much she thinks about you.</span>
  </em>
  <span> she mentally added.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His brow slightly furrowed, “What’s that supposed to mean?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It just means that you’re really fond of her. That you seem to focus on her more than other people.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well I can’t deny that I get excited whenever I see her. I’m not really sure if that counts as being in love though.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Naminé finally got to him a little, </span>
  <em>
    <span>he’s starting to show some self-awareness. I just need to nudge him a little further in the right direction.</span>
  </em>
  <span> “Are you sure that you aren’t in love with her?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He fidgeted a little, “I mean, it’s complicated.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How so?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas thought for a moment before explaining, “I just feel so different towards her. I start getting nervous when I’m around her. Whenever we accidentally touch or hug, I feel my heart racing. I’m just not sure what it means. These past few days I’ve been thinking about her a lot, I’m not sure how I feel.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well describe it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s like I always want to be close to her. Whenever we’re separated for days, I just really miss her. She’s always just actively present in my mind and I’m worried that our friendship is changing. I’ve done some reminiscing and whenever I think back to some of the times we’ve spent together and it doesn’t just feel entirely friendly to me anymore.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can you tell me about some of them?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She observed him close his eyes in contemplation for a moment before opening them back up, “Like the time when she got her Keyblade back. When I first thought about it, we were relieved that it came back to her. I felt happy and it was really friendly between the two of us but now I’m not sure. When I think about it now, my heart starts pounding. I can clearly remember how her hand felt as I held it, and I can only focus on her radiant smile and just how intently she is looking at me. I don’t know what it means.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Naminé put one of her hands on his shoulder in sympathy so that she could get his attention, “I think you're honestly just in love with her.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You think so?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ve seen into your heart. I know how you feel.” She reminded him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas laughed, “That’s right, I can’t hide anything from you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She smiled back, “Is it alright if I talk about some observations that I’ve made based on what I’ve seen in your memories?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sure”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“In most of your memories where you’re with Xion I can feel just how much you care about her. You may have not realized it yourself but you were practically in love with her from the moment you met her. I’m not sure if there was an inherent connection between the two of you based on your circumstances as nobodies. But I do know that she means a lot to you, you love her a lot. Your new heart is just helping you properly realize your true feelings for her.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas’s brow furrowed, “How come I never realized this until only just now?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Naminé shrugged, “Sometimes you just need an outside perspective to point out the obvious. Maybe you’ve also just never had to think of your relationship with her that way until now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He still looked confused, “Okay so suppose that I am in love with Xion. What do I do now? How do I know whether or not she feels the same way?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As much as Naminé wanted to tell Roxas the truth she couldn’t. Unless Xion gave her explicit permission, Naminé wouldn’t tell anyone what she’s seen in her memories, thoughts, and how Xion truly felt. Nudging him in the right direction she could still do however.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Honestly Roxas, given how close the two of you are, I think she feels the same way. You should go talk to her when you think you’re ready, if nothing else then to just get it off your chest.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He nodded and then stood up, “Thank you Naminé, I need to go and think about a few things. I’ll talk to you later.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“See you around Roxas.” As she watched him leave, she couldn’t help but feel relieved. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Finally, he at least acknowledges that he’s in love with her. Now I just need to wait for him to confess to her, or for Xion to confess to him. Either one works for me.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas had a lot to think about on his way back home. Naminé’s words had shaken him; he never honestly thought about Xion in that way before. Yet now that Naminé had brought it to his attention it started to make sense to him. He began to think about the past few weeks and about how much time he’s spent with her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Whenever they’re together he can feel his heart thumping like crazy. Xion always had this odd effect on him where he’d be at a loss for words and/or reduced back to the same state as when he was first a nobody.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now that he thought about it, the first time he saw her in something aside from the coats that they wore he stared at her with a slack jawed expression. Lea bailed him out but he always wondered why he reacted that way.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Because Naminé pointed it out to him, everything began to fall in place for Roxas. The longing stares, the frequent compliments, the hugs and little touches that last a little too long as well as making up excuses to spend more time with her. Roxas came to one conclusion, that Naminé was right. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I really am in love with her. I need to tell Lea about this, maybe he can give me some more advice.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas opened the door to the apartment that he shared with Xion, Lea, and Isa and searched around for his red-haired friend. He found him sitting on the couch messing around with his gummi phone when Roxas frantically called out to him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Lea, I have something that I need to tell you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lea turned to the worried Roxas and stood up, “Calm down buddy, tell me what’s up.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas took a deep breath to steady his nerves, “I think I’m in love with Xion.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lea paused for a moment before laughing, “Congratulations Roxas, you figured out what the rest of us already know.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas pouted, “I’m serious Lea I don’t know what to do about it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lea gave him a reassuring smile, “Relax Roxas, that’s great to hear. I assume you’re going to go tell her how you feel about her?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s what I’m worried about, I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to press her buttons and make her mad.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just talk to her like you normally would.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But I can’t do that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lea arched an eyebrow at Roxas in confusion, “Why not?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll be too distracted by her to focus. I’m not even sure what I should say to her.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just tell her that you like her, no need to dance around it. Look if you’re this worried about telling her then I can tell her for you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, I need to do this myself. I just need to know what to say and to look for to figure out if she feels the same way.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lea ruffled Roxas’s hair much to the younger boy’s frustration, “In that case, we’ll go out for lunch when she gets back. The three of us can go to the bistro. While we’re there I can give you pointers and keep you calm.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks Lea, that would be great.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t worry about it Roxas. You should be the one to invite her out, it will mean more to her.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay I’ll ask her if she wants to have lunch with us at the bistro tomorrow.” Roxas made to leave, pulling out his gummi phone so that he could text her. She was coming back from the Land of Departure tomorrow morning and he was excited. After he sent her the message he thought about the earlier events of the day, his mind was racing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When he saw that she had accepted, it made his mind race. It was hard for him to get to sleep later that night.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He learned what a kiss was later that day when he was frantically researching dates and how to deal with romantic feelings. It made him curious about what it would be like to kiss her. Considering how much ice cream they ate; would she taste like ice cream?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It seemed silly to him to be panicking about her like this. They’ve spent so much time together and yet here he was trying to fall asleep, dealing with a thousand thoughts a minute over how to talk to her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The last time he saw her, they were saying goodbye at the train station as she was boarding the train to the Mysterious Tower where the wizard Yen Sid lived. It was more or less their hub area for whenever they needed to travel to other worlds.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At the time while he was sad to see her go, he knew that she would be back in a couple days’ time. Back then it was friendly and cheerful. When he goes down there to meet her tomorrow, he’ll be a nervous wreck. It's incredible to him how he traded one feeling of uncertainty for another, but he was relieved that he at least knew how to rationalize his feelings for Xion.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>How could I have never noticed this before? It makes so much sense, I can’t wait to see her soon. I hope she loves me back.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In the Land of Departure, Aqua was overseeing a mock duel between Xion and Ventus. Terra and Riku were off conducting their own training session, leaving Aqua to oversee Ventus and Xion’s session. Aqua was interested in seeing Xion’s progress as a Keyblade wielder.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion and Roxas, along with Lea would occasionally come to the Land of Departure for a few days so that they can be trained under the tutelage of herself and Terra primarily but Riku would volunteer as well on occasion (even if Riku mostly stuck to training Kairi). Ventus was also often present to receive further training and to also provide a willing training partner.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sometimes the trio of Roxas, Xion, and Lea came to the Land of Departure together, and other times they either came in groups of two or even by themselves. It varied depending on what they wanted to focus on. While Lea showed great potential as a Keyblade wielder the circumstances surrounding Roxas and Xion drew great interest from her and Terra.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>What made the two former nobodies so unique was the circumstances regarding their ability to even wield a Keyblade as well as their skills and capabilities.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas’s unique talent was that he had the ability to dual wield Keyblades naturally. While she figured that Roxas’s origin as Sora’s nobody was what gave him the ability to wield the Keyblade, his ability to dual wield was intriguing to say the least.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She had heard from Riku that Sora was able to do so as well during the period of time where they fought against the first iteration of Organization XIII. According to Riku though, Sora was only capable of doing so when activating certain powers. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This gave Aqua the task of needing to create a separate curriculum for Roxas due to his uniqueness. Terra though was the one who often trained with Roxas. The former nobody favored a more aggressive style that Terra could work with. Terra mainly focused on honing the boy’s ferocious and wild style into something more focused and precise. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aqua in turn oversaw Xion’s training primarily and she sees great potential in Xion’s talents.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>What made Xion unique was her ability to replicate the abilities, powers, and even weapons of other people. It made Aqua wonder if perhaps Xion’s own ability to wield the Keyblade came from her copying Roxas’s abilities.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Either way, Aqua knows that Xion is a gifted Keyblade wielder in her own right and that she could easily see Xion going far.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>While Aqua doesn’t like to play favorites with her students, she is particularly fascinated by Xion’s replication powers. Her powers were an unusual one that allowed for all sorts of possibilities. Aqua however was more concerned with seeing Xion’s capabilities with the Keyblade.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion looked to be in her usual nearly impeccable form, matching Ventus handily; but Aqua noticed that something was off about Xion’s form.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When she first arrived at the Land of Departure and they got started with the lessons she was impressive. She was quicker with her blows, throwing in magic to complement her strikes and even throwing in a different weapon entirely sometimes to trick her opponent.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Today however Xion seemed to be slower, more hesitant, not even employing some of her craftier tricks. Ventus exploited several openings handily, knocking Xion’s weapon to the side. Aqua always gave her enough time to rest in between classes, so it couldn’t have just been plain old fatigue; something else was distracting Xion.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Keyblade master had seen enough. Aqua whistled to get the pairs attention and raised a hand into the air, signaling to stop the duel.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aqua looked at Xion, “Xion, is something the matter? You seem off today.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion stood at attention, “Sorry Miss Aqua, I’m feeling distracted today.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Distracted, by what?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s because I look like her boyfriend and she misses him.” Ventus interrupted, laughing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He’s not my boyfriend! We’re just good friends is all!” Xion shot back, a little too quick Aqua noticed. Aqua also noticed a blush that was quickly forming on Xion’s face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This was a common habit between the two. Ventus would tease Xion about her relationship with Roxas while Xion would fire back at him. This week, Ventus told her what boyfriend and girlfriend properly meant and watched Xion’s face perpetually blush over the course of several days.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The teasing was always done in good stead and normally she didn’t mind it, it helped to build camaraderie between everyone involved. Aqua wasn’t much of a fan of being interrupted when she was reviewing someone’s performance however.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think the lady doth protest too much, I think you want to be more than friends with him. I bet you want to kiss him really bad. I don’t blame you, Roxas is a good-looking guy. I should know.” Ventus smirked while using his thumb to gesture towards himself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ven!” Aqua called out in a warning tone, but he either didn’t hear her or he ignored her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion scoffed while rolling her eyes, “Oh please, Roxas is a lot more handsome than you.” Her eyes then widened and she brought her hand up to cover her mouth.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ven’s smirk was still present, “So you do admit that he’s handsome. Interesting…” He was going to continue but Aqua had heard enough.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ventus!” the boy’s head snapped towards her; eyes wide. Whenever Aqua called him by his name instead of his nickname, he knew that she was serious. The glare that she shot Ven had silenced any further retort that he had.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She pointed towards the ground, “Push Ups. Now. I’ll know if you’re slacking off.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ven groaned and got on the ground and got started on his punishment.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With that settled Aqua sighed and turned to give Xion her attention. She should’ve guessed that it was about Roxas from the start.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One of the things that she and Terra both noticed almost immediately was how close Xion and Roxas are. She figured that the two were a couple based on how they acted towards each other. It certainly confused her when she found out that no, they aren’t a couple.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When she brought it up to Lea, the man said that they are dating; they just don’t know it yet. Aqua was still confused until Isa explained that while the two aren’t in a relationship there’s still the potential for something to blossom between the two and it’s painfully obvious that they are in fact in love with each other.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Being former nobodies the aspiring Keyblade wielders don’t quite understand what it is they are feeling yet. Everyone agrees though that it’s just a matter of time before one of them makes a move.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is that true Xion, do you miss Roxas?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion fidgeted in place nervously, “Well…I mean…” She frowned, “It’s weird, even though I can still give him a call and talk to him whenever I want, I just miss him. I just feel lonely and I can’t explain why.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aqua gave her a sympathetic look, “It isn’t weird Xion. It just means you want to see him again. After all, The heart grows fonder with absence.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The other girl tilted her head to the side in confusion, “What does that mean?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It just means that you care about him and that you don’t want to be away from him for too long. I know how close the two of you are, I’m sure Roxas misses you as well.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You think so?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aqua smiled to reassure her, “Of course.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She thought for a moment before speaking again, “Can I ask you a question?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sure”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you love Roxas?” Aqua figured that now was a good time as any to talk about her relationship with Roxas. She remembered her own confusion about relationships and romantic feelings from before she started dating Terra. If she could help Xion out with her own problems then she will.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion blinked in confusion, “Of course I love him. I love both him and Lea, they’re my two closest friends.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aqua smiled, “Sorry, let me rephrase that. Are you in love with Roxas?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The other girl frowned, “What does ‘being in love’ mean?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before Aqua could explain she was interrupted again, much to her annoyance. “It means you want to kiss him and spend the rest of your life with him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She snapped at Ventus, “Did I say that you could speak up?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No ma’am.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Then please be quiet.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion looked skeptical, “Is that it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Being in love means you adore someone and cherish them above everyone else.” Aqua figured that a simple explanation would be the best way to get her point across.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If I’m in love with Roxas then does that mean our relationship is going to change? Will we not be friends anymore?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aqua shook her head in disagreement, “You won’t stop being friends with Roxas. Considering how close the two of you are, not much will really change. You’ll just be more affectionate with each other.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion still looked unsure, “How do I know if I’m in love?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aqua got onto one knee so that she could look the other girl in the eyes directly, “Well I want you to think about something. How does he make you feel?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion’s expression lightened up slightly, “That’s easy, he makes me feel happy. He’s always there for me and whenever he’s with me I feel like I can do anything. I know it’s strange but I like holding onto him, I find it comforting.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aqua continued to smile, “Okay, now how often do you find yourself staring at him?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She watched Xion mull to herself for a few seconds before giving Aqua an answer, “A lot actually now that you mention it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If I recall, I heard you say that you find him handsome.” She didn’t frame it as a question.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I do, I find myself staring at him a lot. I don’t know why but I’ve also been wanting to be closer to him. Like I want to hug him more and stuff.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aqua placed both of her hands on the other girl’s shoulders, “I think you’re just in love with Roxas and you want to be with him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You think so?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I do, how long have you felt this way towards him?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion began to smile more, “I think when I started working with him while we were in the Organization together, I felt myself getting closer to him over time. He’s always been a constant comforting presence for me. Since we’ve gotten our hearts, I’ve felt a little different towards him. Like my feelings are more intense now compared to how I feel about anyone else. Whenever we’re together I feel so giddy and I don’t want to leave him. Is that what being in love is?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aqua chuckled, “I think you have your answer Xion.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> Xion still looked a little bothered, “So, what should I do now?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think you should consider talking to Roxas so that you can tell him how you feel.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion shook off Aqua’s hands, “Do you think he feels the same way?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aqua couldn’t hide her own teasing smirk, “Have you ever thought about why we often separate the two of you when you’re training with us?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion grimaced slightly, “No, I haven’t. Why do you separate us?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Because that boy excessively stares at you a lot. It gets in the way of his sessions.” Aqua briefly recalled a funny moment where Roxas was distracted by an elaborate flourish from Xion and got bonked on the head by a Keyblade while he was distracted.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She continued, “I’ve also caught you staring at him as well, especially considering if we take today into account. The two of you seem to distract each other. If I had to take a guess, I’d say that he finds you very attractive. Whenever the two of you are alone, does he compliment you a lot?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion paused again as she evidently considered her answer, “He does have a habit of saying I look good. There are also all of the times where he likes to surprise me with little gifts on occasion, and he never seems to mind whenever I cling onto him. His smile looks so radiant and inviting and we tend to hug a lot and he always feels so warm…” She paused for a moment as realization seemed to cross her features. “I really am in love with him, aren’t I?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Now you’re getting it.” The voice came from a distant Ven.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aqua turned to him, “What was that Ven? You want to do crunches now as well? I’m so proud of you; keep this up and you’ll be as big and strong as Terra is in no time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She heard a groan of acknowledgment from the boy and turned to address Xion again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You don’t have to rush anything Xion. You can take the next step in your relationship with Roxas whenever you think you’re ready.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion shook her head in disagreement, “No, I think I’m ready. Now that I know how I feel about him, I just need to think about what I’m going to say. Should I wait for him to bring up the subject?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You could do that, but let me tell you something.” Aqua leaned in to whisper into Xion’s ear, “Don’t be afraid to make the first move. Men can sometimes be a little hesitant when it comes to romance.” She pulled back and saw that Xion now had a teasing smirk of her own.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you speaking from experience Miss Aqua?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aqua answered with a light chuckle, as a noise began to play nearby, cutting her off.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah!” Xion darted over to where she and Ventus set their stuff down when they began to train. She quickly searched through the pile and pulled out her Gummi phone. “It’s Roxas!” she looked at Aqua as if she were looking for guidance.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just talk to him and see what he wants. I’ll give you some privacy.” She waved the nervous girl away and watched Xion nod frantically and walk off, fingers racing across the phone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She went over to where Ventus was still exercising, “You can stop now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The boy collapsed, attempting to compose himself better, “Thank you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aqua shrugged, “Honestly I’m impressed you kept up.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ventus gave her a tired smile, “If I want to be a Keyblade master like you and Terra, then I can’t let a little exercise destroy me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The pair sat in silence for a few minutes while they gave Xion some privacy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A little while later and Xion came back with an excited grin, “He and Lea want to take me out to lunch when I get back.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ventus gave her a thumbs up, “That’s great”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aqua brought her hands together, “Well in that case let’s call it a wrap here.” She gestured towards Ventus, “With the both of you either tired or distracted, I don’t think we’ll make more progress.” She offered a hand to Ventus in order to help him up which the tired boy eagerly accepted.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aqua wanted to give Xion one more bit of advice. “Just remember to remain calm Xion, you know how he feels about you, so just take it easy and go from there.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>On the following day, Aqua dropped Xion off at Yen Sid’s tower and saw her off as the other girl got onto the train that would take her back to Twilight Town. As she watched the train depart, she thought to herself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>If they actually become a couple then we’ll probably have no choice but to train them together, they won’t have it any other way. If they’re borderline inseparable now…</span>
  </em>
  <span> She let the thought trail off as she smiled to herself. “At least they’ll stop being so awkward around each other.” she said aloud to no one in particular.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas paced nervously as he waited at the train station. While he knew that she would have to go drop off her stuff at home before going off to lunch he wanted to see her. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Naminé was right. I really am hopelessly in love with her. Just the thought of seeing her again is making me into a jittering mess.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He saw the odd-looking train pull into the station that he knew travelled between the Town and the Mysterious Tower. His breath caught in his throat and he felt his heartbeat begin to increase as the doors opened and he saw that familiar mop of black hair. Xion waved at him and approached him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Instinctively, he pulled her into a tight hug as he felt her hug him back. When he realized what he had done, he pulled back fighting the oncoming blush as he looked at her. While he always found her pretty, now she seemed absolutely gorgeous.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So how have you been?” he asked her as they began to make their way back home.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion smiled at him, “Great, got some rigorous training in with Aqua. How about you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Been working with Naminé on that memory therapy stuff.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How’s that been working out?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas shrugged, “Pretty good, I still remember you perfectly.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She laughed, “That’s wonderful to hear, don’t want you to forget about me again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Without thinking, Roxas blurted out, “I treasure you too much to ever really forget about.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He cringed as Xion froze and turned to look at him with a shocked expression, and a blush. “What was that Roxas?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I mean we’ve known each other for so long that I couldn’t imagine forgetting about you again.” He attempted to smile in order to hide his embarrassment, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Sure Roxas why don’t you just blurt out that you treasure her like that. May as well give her a tearful confession about how much you love her as well.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They made a quick stop at their apartment in order to drop off Xion’s bag and made to go to the Bistro. As they walked, Xion unintentionally slipped her hand into Roxas’s which threw the already nervous boy off guard. Not wanting to make it awkward between the two of them, he went along with it. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Does she like me? I don’t want to screw this up. Her hand fits so nicely into mine.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At some point her hand slipped out of his, much to his disappointment. He saw her face light up as they saw Lea waiting for them. Their friend had gone ahead to secure some seats for them while he went to go meet Xion at the train station. Relief washed over him as he saw that Lea was going to be with them after all, </span>
  <em>
    <span>at least it won’t be so awkward if it’s the three of us.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion shot ahead to give Lea a brief hug. It was a lot shorter than the hug that they had shared Roxas had noticed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good to see you, kiddo. You too Roxas.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion was happy, “I missed you guys, it gets a little lonely sometimes going off by myself,”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well we’ll just need to make sure that at least Roxas can join you next time.” Lea then paused as some music began to play. He frowned, fished around in his pocket, and pulled out his phone. “It’s Isa, hold on a second.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas began to grow suspicious but didn’t think much of it. He listened in on the conservation, “Oh come on! What’s that? You say that you’re at the Mysterious Tower and that you need to speak to me? Okay then, I just have to break the bad news to Roxas and Xion.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alarm bells began to ring out in his mind, </span>
  <em>
    <span>I saw Isa back at the apartment. He can’t be at the Mysterious Tower already. What is he…no!</span>
  </em>
  <span> Roxas began to realize all too late what was going on. He missed what Lea had said but he didn’t need to. He knew that Lea was lying to them, that he was leaving them alone on what was more or less a date.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With a panicked look in his eyes, he silently mouthed, “How could you do this to me?” Lea only responded with a wink, as he waved while leaving, “You kids have fun now!” Before he left, he shoved a small pouch into Roxas’s hands. “In case you need any extra munny.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas quietly hissed, “You backstabbing traitor.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lea chuckled, “You’ll thank me later Roxas.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As the two were seated, they looked at each other awkwardly. Roxas didn’t know what to say. Despite the fact that he’s spent practically his whole life talking to her, it was as if he was meeting her for the first time.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t want to stare at her, but there was nowhere else he could look without making it obvious that he was avoiding her. The only thing nearby that stood out to him was that the girl seated near them looked oddly familiar.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>No, I can’t be looking at other girls. Xion will get the wrong impression. I need to focus on her, focus on how beautiful she looks or how her smile lights up any room. Oh no, I really am a hopeless wreck. Lea why have you forsaken me?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He knew he had to break the awkward silence though and so he spoke up, “So what did Aqua teach you this time?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion shrugged nonchalantly, “Nothing special, mostly just reviewing what we’ve already learned.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you think they’ll teach us how to transform our Keyblades soon?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She pursed her lips, then spoke, “I think they’re waiting until me, you, and Lea are all at the same level. You know, just teach us all at once in one fell swoop.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Makes sense, it’s a shame we don’t get to train too often together. I like watching you, you’re very elegant.” He paused before adding, “I especially enjoy seeing you using all of those different weapons, it makes you look very stylish.” Roxas could’ve sworn that he saw her blushing, she mumbled something under breath.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry what was that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She looked surprised, “I said thank you, you’re not bad yourself. It may not be elegant but you’re very powerful. Plus, you’re pretty stylish yourself, dual wielding Keyblades like that. I like seeing the crazy combinations you can pull off.” He had to avert his gaze, lest he give away just how hard he was blushing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If you want to, we could go into the forest one day when we have the time and have a mock duel. Just the two of us?” he suggested.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She inclined her head to the side, “Just the two of us, like a date?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Struggling to not sound like a fish gasping for air Roxas had to salvage the conversation, “I mean it doesn’t have to be a date. I know people say we’re like a couple, but it doesn’t have to be anything special.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He saw Xion’s eyes widen as she moved to cover her mouth with one of her hands. He could’ve sworn that he saw the faintest crease of a smile behind her hand but it still worried him. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Did I press one of her buttons?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He had to pay attention as she was speaking to him, her voice was quiet but he still heard her, “Do people really think we’re a couple?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas wasn’t sure how to respond. Thankfully the waiter appeared to take their orders, he nearly gasped in relief that the waiter’s interruption had stopped their conversation from progressing any further.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the waiter left, Xion didn’t seem all too interested in continuing their previous conversation so he was content to drop it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They instead talked about other things, “So Roxas, I hear the struggle competition is going to be coming up in a few months, you going to join?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I was thinking about it, were you interested?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion shook her head, “Nah I’ll be more content with just cheering you on.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas thought about that. It conjured an image in his mind of Roxas locked in a grueling match against either Setzer or Seifer. Xion was in the back cheering him, inspiring him to fight on with greater fervor. He was waving around a trophy while Xion ran up from the crowd to embrace him. They locked eyes before passionately kissing as the crowd roared around them with approval. He was forced out of his daydream by the sound of Xion calling out to him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey Roxas! Are you okay? You were zoning out hard there.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sorry I was distracted by what you said earlier. About the struggle tournament.” Why did he have to imply that he was distracted by her. She laughed though, shifting her posture so that she was resting her chin on one of her hands.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is the idea of me cheering you on that enticing?” she teased. If he was feeling nervous before, the way she was gazing at him so intently with that wonderful smile was making his heart rate skyrocket.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Just like last time, the waiter came back to deliver their food, interrupting their conversation. Roxas was relieved that Xion was enjoying herself. He thought back to what Lea had told him the other day. Lea told him to look for signs, and if he had to be honest, he thinks that he can see them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The way she evidently hangs on to every word he says. From what he saw, she was smiling at the idea that people saw the two of them as a couple. It made him hopeful that she felt the same way. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I just wish I was as calm as you are right now. You’re always so calm and poised.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>After they were done eating, the two were waiting for the bill. Xion stood up, “Hey listen, I’m just going to freshen up before we leave.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He smiled at her, “Okay”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Xion was safe within the privacy of the bathroom, she let out an excited breath. She was positively ecstatic. There weren’t any coherent thoughts at the moment. Only joyous internal screaming and excitement as she tried to calm herself down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ever since she stepped off the train, she had been gauging his reactions just like Aqua had advised her to do. She was curious about how much Aqua was right about both her and Roxas.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The first thing she noticed was that she absolutely wanted to tackle Roxas with a hug.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They may have been separated for a few days but from the way they acted, one would think that they had been separated for years.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aqua’s words had struck a chord with her. The whole train ride back she felt herself getting more and more excited by the prospect of seeing him again. Now that she had a way of identifying those odd feelings, it all made so much sense now.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>All of those furtive glances she would shoot towards him and the way that he always smiles whenever he sees her. When they were walking back so that she could drop off her things she didn’t expect such an honest admission from Roxas.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Whether or not he intended to say what he said, she’s glad that he said it either way. On the way over to the Bistro she held his hand, wanting to see his reaction. The giddy smile that he gave her spoke volumes. When Lea said that he needed to leave, she just about started internally and externally screaming.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She also realized that Aqua was also right about Roxas watching her intently. This whole outing was absolutely eye opening for her. While she knew that their friends teased them on occasion about their relationship, she didn’t know that Roxas and her were the talk of the town in terms of speculation.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas may not have been aware of this but he did legit zone out when they were talking about the struggle competition. As smart as he can be, Roxas didn’t seem to realize that he partially voiced his little daydream.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The part that got her attention was when he heard him say, “It was only because you were cheering me on Xion. You make me feel so strong.” That absolutely sealed her suspicions, he was just as in love with her as she was with him. It was a little hypocritical of her to tease him about it though, considering her own imagination was running wild.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After the waiter left, Xion was stuck in her own little fantasy due to Roxas’s suggestion. She imagined the two of them fighting in the woods, matching each other blow for blow. At some point she would trip him up and knock him flat on his back but she would overextend herself and fall down on top of him. Caught up in the moment due to their close proximity and adrenaline pumping inside of her, she would lean down and kiss him and he would return the kiss with equal fervor. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It baffled Xion as to how in the span of one day she could go from regarding him as a close friend to pining for him super hard.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aqua’s last bit of advice sprang to mind, </span>
  <em>
    <span>don’t be afraid to make the first move.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Xion was nervous but she knew what she had to do, </span>
  <em>
    <span>even if I know that he loves me back, I can’t act like a creep.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Taking a moment to compose herself, she went back out and saw Roxas paying the bill.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She pouted, “You should’ve waited till I came back; I would’ve paid.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas shook his head and smiled, “No, it was my treat.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She rolled her eyes, “I’ll pay for it next time we go out okay?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His voice was faint, “Next time?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course, I always LOVE going out with you like this.” She hoped that he would pick up on the implication, even if it was weak. “Before we go back home, do you mind taking a walk with me? There’s something I want to talk to you about.” The time had come she decided, there wouldn’t be a better opportunity for a good while she thought to herself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“O-Of course” he made to follow her. As they walked, she felt her own heart beat skyrocket. Even if she knows that he loves her back the thought of actually confessing made her nervous.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>If he says yes, our relationship will change.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Despite Aqua’s assurance that their relationship wouldn’t change too dramatically, she knew that it would change regardless. They wouldn’t be able to see each other in the same light as just merely friends. While she may be nervous, the prospect of being with Roxas excited her more. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Besides, even if he somehow doesn’t return my feelings, I feel like we should have this conversation regardless.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They turned around the corner into the alley where the square was. Roxas was staring at her, she summoned her confidence once more as she looked him in the eyes. They were all alone now with nothing to stop her from confessing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“While I was in the Land of Departure, I was thinking about you, about us.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She saw his eyes widen, “What do you mean?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion figured that the straight-forward option was the best way to go, “Whenever we’re apart I start to feel lonely. However, whenever I’m with you, I feel so happy and so warm. I’ve been feeling so strange about you lately. And I think I know why I’ve been feeling this way.” In a bold decision, she gripped his shoulders, “I want to be more than just friends with you Roxas. I’m madly in love with you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas’s gaze softened as she saw a smile forming on his face, “I feel the same way. Whenever we’re apart I feel an emptiness inside of my chest. It’s an inescapable hollow feeling that only goes away when I’m with you. As silly as it sounds, I’ve only now realized just how much I’m in love with you. So yes, I love you too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With no further need to exchange more words, she leaned in and kissed him. When she pulled back, both of their faces were equally crimson from their respective blushes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion spoke first, “I’m shocked that it took us this long to do this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas smirked while brushing some of her hair out of the way, “To be fair, I’ve been told that we’re already a couple. We just didn’t know it yet. I assume Aqua pointed it out to you while you were training with her.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yep, so who pointed it out for you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Naminé, told me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What did she say to you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“When we were talking about what she’s seen in my memories, she talked to me about the things that she saw, the echoes that she felt. She said that we never had to think of our relationship like this until now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion laughed, “She’s right, it still feels kind of silly that it took us so long to realize it. I wished I realized it sooner”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She watched him pull back and he slid one of his rings that he normally wore off his finger. She looked at it curiously, “While you were gone, I wanted to get you something nice. I’ve seen people walking around, wearing matching rings and while I don’t know the significance behind it, I think it’s supposed to show how close two people are.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She was speechless, “You wanted to get me a ring? I was only gone for like a week at most Roxas.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know but still, at the time I was thinking about how it would look on you and that it would be a great way to show how close we are. When I was looking around yesterday, nothing really stood out to me. This one however…” Gently gripping her hand, he slid the ring on one of her own fingers with his other hand. It was the black ring that he normally wore along with his white one. “…I think this one looks great on you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She beamed at it, “I love it.” She then thought for a moment, “Wait. You were going to go out of your way to buy me a ring? Didn’t Naminé tell you what that meant?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He slightly averted his gaze, “After we walked away from the store, that was when she told me that it was something that people do when they love each other.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She chuckled, “You really are dense Roxas.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas cupped her chin, intently focusing his gaze on hers, “Like you’re any better. How many times did you pull me into a sudden tight hug for no reason?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I never heard you complain about and even then, I like hugging you. Can’t good friends just hug each other?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He nodded, “True, but I think you like to hug like me more than you hug other people.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s not my fault that you feel nice and soft to hug. Perhaps I couldn’t just appreciate what I was feeling at the time. If only we knew about this stuff sooner.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well as far as I’m concerned, we have plenty of time to make up for that mistake.” He then silenced any retort she had with a slow and meaningful kiss.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As the new couple kissed, they didn’t notice however that someone had followed them from the restaurant. A triumphant Naminé observed the new couple kiss before leaving them to their privacy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>It took them a while, but they finally realized what everyone else already knows. That they are absolutely in love with each other.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. New Dawn</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Day 2’s prompt is Future / Marriage. You can consider this an extension of sorts for the previous day’s prompt. I intended for this to be very fluffy.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Roxas was making his way to the Clock Tower to meet with Xion. While the Clock Tower was their normal hang out spot, it was the perfect place for what Roxas wanted to do. It had been several years since he and Xion confessed to one another and became a couple. Roxas had decided that he was ready for the next step. He was going to propose to her.</p>
<p>The ring that he had picked out while light and small, felt immensely heavy in his pocket. The idea of proposing to Xion while appealing, left him nervous. It wasn’t a matter of him being concerned as to whether or not she was going to say yes. He was incredibly confident that she would say yes.</p>
<p>What made him nervous was what it would represent, a new beginning. For Roxas, he felt that he could divide his and Xion’s life into four parts right now.</p>
<p>They were born into the world as nobodies, entities that were regarded as being unable to feel and unable to experience genuine emotions. Despite their status as nobodies, Roxas and Xion were able to form a deep bond. They cherished each other and thought of each as the most important person in their lives.</p>
<p>When they lost each other, or at least were threatened with the possibility of losing each other, they were devastated and took drastic measures to try and not be separated. While they ultimately failed, they were sort of reunited inside of Sora’s heart. That was the first part of their lives.</p>
<p>During Sora’s struggles against Xehanort and his ambitions, they were truly reunited.</p>
<p>Xion was brought back to serve a nefarious purpose in the new Organization. Fortunately, she was able to fight off Xehanort’s influence when she was reminded of who she was as a person. Roxas was the key to helping her regain control of herself and he came back when she herself was threatened. They, alongside their other close friend Axel, swore to never be separated ever again.</p>
<p>After the battle was over, they went back to Twilight Town, the place where their relationship truly began, alongside their friend Axel (now known as Lea) and their former boss Saïx (who is now known as Isa). Despite their previous misgivings, the pair were willing to give him a second chance. That was when the second part of their lives began.</p>
<p>The pair didn’t know much about living a regular life and as such had to learn about quite a bit. Surprisingly, they managed to adjust pretty well, up until new feelings began to crop up. A few weeks into living their new normal lives Roxas and Xion started feeling funny towards each other. They began to question their relationship and as to what they feel about each other.</p>
<p>When they were informed as to what ‘love’ really was, they decided to give it a shot and became a couple. To this day, Roxas still considered it the best decision that he had ever made. Of course, considering what he intends to do today, it may be challenged. This led into the third part of their lives.</p>
<p>After they became a couple they fell into all sorts of routines. The two began to pick up new interests and hobbies. Roxas decided to pursue a potential full-time career in the Struggle league, which had evolved from merely just being a competition held in the summer. Xion had decided that she wanted to dedicate herself towards studying the inner workings of the heart.</p>
<p>She applied herself to an apprenticeship under Professor Even and his assistant Ienzo. The three developed a familial bond of sorts after Xion was informed that Even was the one who made her and could be considered to be her father.</p>
<p>They juggled their new lives with also being fully fledged Keyblade wielders. Sometimes they would be called upon to rid a world of some rampant heartless or if other villainous actors had decided to emerge. Despite their new responsibilities, they always found time for each other.</p>
<p>When they first started dating, they were absolutely inseparable. They were extremely affectionate, lovey dovey, and to an extent, obnoxious with their public displays of love. At first, they were forbidden from sleeping together in the same room due to concerns. Amusingly, he remembers that conversation all too well:</p>
<p>The red-haired man, Lea, was pacing back and forth as he counted off the rules, he got to the last one,</p>
<p>“Last rule, no sleeping together in the same bed.”</p>
<p>They both voiced their disappointment in unison, “Aw, why not?”</p>
<p>“Because the two of you are too young to be engaging in those sorts of activities.”</p>
<p>It was Xion who was visibly confused, “What sort of activities?”</p>
<p>The blue haired man, Isa, spoke up with a rare teasing grin of his own. “Yes Lea, what sort of activities?”</p>
<p>When they first started dating, Roxas and Xion had no idea about what sort of activities a couple would get up to. They only knew the basics such as kissing, hugging, and holding hands. Human Biology wasn’t exactly a thing that they knew yet.</p>
<p>The corner of Lea’s mouth twitched into a grimace, “Very adult things that you shouldn’t know about yet. I just don’t want you two getting involved in any funny business, that is a headache I don’t want to deal with yet.”</p>
<p>Roxas frowned, “I know that me and Xion like to tell each other jokes and goof around but I don’t see how that relates to us sleeping together.”</p>
<p>Isa in a rare moment, burst out laughing. Isa laughing was a concept that Roxas wasn’t used to in the slightest. He only knew his former boss as a surly, straight-forward, and no-nonsense individual. To see him so jolly had left Roxas a little unnerved, “What’s so funny?”</p>
<p>The blue haired man composed himself back to his usual demeanor, “It’s just that the two of you are so naïve Roxas. Look, it’s not a question of whether or not we trust you. The two of you are young and impressionable. We just need to make sure you know enough and are mature enough before we can leave the two of you alone and unsupervised. Until then, you can’t sleep in the same bed together.”</p>
<p>At the time Roxas didn’t understand what they meant. He just wanted to spend more time with Xion.</p>
<p>The rule lasted for all of three months as they would just unlock their doors anyways at night by using their Keyblades and just cuddle together before going their separate ways before anyone else woke up and noticed anything odd.</p>
<p>No one really bothered enforcing it because they demonstrated to be responsible enough in their relationship when they moved out of what Roxas heard was ‘the Honeymoon Phase’. Plus them falling asleep together had the unintended effect of averting most of the nightmares that they had. He could always remember the first night where they started their cuddling routine so fondly,</p>
<p>“psst… Hey Xion, are you awake?” Roxas whispered</p>
<p>Groggily, she opened her eyes, “Huh? Roxas? What are you doing here?” Xion was skeptical as she knew that he was obviously breaking Lea’s rules.</p>
<p>“I wanted to see you.” He was so matter of fact about it that he could see the surprise on her face.</p>
<p>“But what about Lea’s rules?” she arched an eyebrow.</p>
<p>He waved a hand dismissively, “Lea said we can’t sleep together, he never said anything about us just cuddling in bed.”</p>
<p>Giggling, she shot her arms forward to pull him in closer, “Sounds good to me.”</p>
<p>Whenever they cuddled like this they mostly just lightly kissed and basked in each other’s presence. They did other things though such as affectionately nudging each other, rubbing each other’s backs and on occasion touched their noses and foreheads together.</p>
<p>That last action was always certainly teasing to him though as her lips would always be so enticingly close, but he never gave in; sometimes. It was almost like a little game between them. </p>
<p>Whoever leaned forward and kissed first lost. Either way he got to kiss her, so he didn’t mind it. He still made it a point to mess with her though, he always liked her reactions.</p>
<p>“Roxas, stop teasing me.” she whined.</p>
<p>Like most other things about her, he always found her whining to be adorable. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” he smirked. It was always a dangerous game to hover so close to her like this, but he loves riling her up too much to quit.</p>
<p>“You know exactly what you’re doing.” she growled in a low warning tone; Attempting to lean in and kiss him, Roxas moved his head back so that she just barely missed him. </p>
<p>Taunting her efforts, he leaned forwards when she stopped moving. His lips lightly brushed against hers for the faintest of moments before leaning back, “I think you’re cute when you’re like this.”</p>
<p>He could see her eyes narrow, “Cute? I’ll show you cute.``He didn’t have any time to react before she shot a hand to the back of his neck and arched her leg up and around Roxas, resting it behind his back. With Xion tightly clamped onto him, she held him in place as she deeply kissed him. When she let go, she retracted her leg and moved her hand to his lips and used a finger to silence him, his face was beet red. “That’s what you get for tempting me like that.”</p>
<p>He quickly regained his composure though, “Good to know.” Flashing her a teasing smirk as she winked at him.</p>
<p>Every time Xion fell asleep in his arms, he quietly wiggled himself out of her hold and went back to his room so as to avoid any reprimands from either Lea or Isa. Guilt would always wash over him though as he would see her adorably reach around and swipe at the air in an attempt to find him while muttering his name. The moment that they were given the silent approval to start sharing the same bed, they almost always fell asleep in each other’s arms. </p>
<p>Roxas frequently suspected that she faked being asleep in the past, a suspicion that he felt was correct. When they started properly sleeping together, she had a grip like no other and loved to use him as a makeshift pillow. Roxas loved holding her tight as he slept so he was okay with her antics. </p>
<p>A few years later and they moved out of the apartment that they shared with Lea and Isa into their own apartment. Roxas could remember the excitement on Xion’s face when she realized that they would always have the entire place to themselves now; truth be told he was pretty excited as well.</p>
<p>“And this is your key.” Roxas placed a small key into Xion’s outstretched palm. She smiled as she noticed that the key to their new apartment was a tiny replica of the Kingdom Key, the first Keyblade that they both wielded. Xion put the key in her pocket before returning her attention to Roxas.</p>
<p>“So, what you’re saying is that we’ll be the only ones here? No one is going to interrupt us?” Xion’s grin was widening by the second as she circled her arms around Roxas’s neck.</p>
<p>He smirked, “Yep. It’ll be only us.”</p>
<p>She winked at him, “Finally, some peace and quiet then.”</p>
<p>They both laughed after that as Roxas kissed her and he grunted in surprise as she jumped up, wrapping her legs around him after a few seconds of kissing. Shifting his arms to accommodate her new posture, he carried her inside.</p>
<p>When their careers progressed further, they had less time for each other. Roxas was primarily travelling around, competing in struggle while also competing in fighting tournaments; it was a lucrative way to bring in extra munny. Xion on the other hand spent most of her time in Radiant Garden, working with Even and Ienzo in order to further research hearts.</p>
<p>The only time they got to themselves was around the holidays and the summer where they would come back home to Twilight Town. Whenever they got back together, they made the most of the time they had while also checking up on all of their friends.</p>
<p>Roxas heard Xion once say that “The heart grows fonder with absence.” He believed her. As much as they talked on the phone or video chatted face to face, they still missed each other terribly. The moment they were together though, they practically pounced on each other and were glued together. No one said anything as they were more focused on just kissing each other, any updates that they could give each other would come later.</p>
<p>Even if he doesn’t get to see her now too often, he loves the fact that they’re a couple. Which brings him to what he intends to do. Roxas knows that this would be the fourth part of his life, the future; their future.</p>
<p>Despite how many times he’s climbed up the steps to the clock tower, it never gets old for him.</p>
<p>At the edge where they normally sat, she was standing there and waiting for him. She wasn’t a kid anymore, Xion was a woman. Age always was a funny thing to Roxas though.</p>
<p>As they were more or less born as nobodies (and unique nobodies on top of that.) they aged differently from regular people. The pair were born looking like teenagers and quickly developed as individuals over the course of a year. For the sake of everyone involved, they just referred to the two as being around sixteen years of age for the purposes of documentation. </p>
<p>In reality when they first got their new hearts, they considered themselves to be around two to three years old. It had been seven years since that fateful battle, seven long years. Roxas and Xion both found it more convenient to go by the ages that the group had assigned the pair. </p>
<p>In recent years she got a little taller (though he was still taller) and her features had matured more. While she still liked to wear dresses, today she had chosen to go with a basic hoodie, t-shirt, and sweatpants. One habit she had taken up in recent years was that she started growing out her hair.</p>
<p>Roxas didn’t really have a preference between either short or long hair (he thought she looked beautiful regardless) but he found her hair stunning nonetheless. Her hair still reflected the sun’s light nicely and it would always find a way to slightly flow in the wind. He kind of suspected that she was using magic to achieve that last part but he didn’t want to ask her about it.</p>
<p>It certainly made things a little funny sometimes where they would lie down together and he would end up with a face full of hair. More often than not this would occur from her tossing and turning in her sleep. It didn’t bother him, though he did find it rather ticklish.</p>
<p>He can’t judge her though as sometimes the small beard he now sported would sometimes tickle her when they kissed.</p>
<p>Roxas himself had also matured since they got their new bodies. Like Xion, he grew taller and his muscles started to develop more. He wasn’t buff like say Aeleus or Terra were but he was muscular in his own right due to his athletic lifestyle.</p>
<p>Today he decided to forego his own jacket and instead wore a white long sleeve shirt with some jeans. He made sure to shave today so his beard wasn’t as bushy as it was sometimes.</p>
<p>When he first started sprouting facial hair, Lea pulled him aside to teach him how to shave. He never knew that Lea shaved. Apparently as nobodies, while styling your hair and maintaining your cleanliness was important; hair wouldn’t grow too much for nobodies. Lea once told him that if he doesn’t shave then his hair would resemble a lion’s mane which certainly was a humorous image to consider.</p>
<p>She smiled when she saw him, like she always did and pulled out some ice cream.</p>
<p>Roxas smiled, “It’s been a while since we’ve been able to do this.”</p>
<p>Returning the smile, Xion agreed, “We don’t get enough time together.”</p>
<p>Baring a mischievous smile, Roxas couldn’t keep the teasing edge out of his tone, “Even when we get to spend the whole summer together?”</p>
<p>She pouted in a cute manner, “You know that’s never enough time for me.”</p>
<p>They sat down and ate their ice cream in silence. He looked over the town in its seemingly perpetual sunset. <em> Some things really don’t change, do they? The sunset has always looked so magnificent, and it’s not just because she’s here with me. </em></p>
<p>When they finished, Roxas turned to her, “Thank you for coming here today, I wanted to talk to you about something.”</p>
<p>She shook her head, “No thank you, I’ve got some really big news that I need to share with you.” Roxas couldn’t help but notice that her voice had gone faint towards the end. Was something troubling her?</p>
<p>He looked concerned as he saw her eyes beginning to slightly quiver, “Is something wrong?”</p>
<p>Once again, she shook her head, “No Roxas. I need you to brace yourself though, move away from the edge. I don’t want you to fall off the Clock Tower out of shock.”</p>
<p>Now he was worried as he did as she asked, “What happened Xion?”</p>
<p>With a deep breath she grabbed his hand and moved it to her stomach. It was pressed against her stomach and it took Roxas a moment to realize what she was implying. When the implication set in, his breath began to feel short and with shakiness in his voice he started to ask “Are you saying…” but he never got to finish his question as she cut him off with tears starting to form in her eyes.</p>
<p>“Yes Roxas… I’m pregnant.” As the tears started to flow down freely.</p>
<p>Instinctively, Roxas pulled her into a hug and squeezed, “You don’t need to cry Xion.”</p>
<p>“I’m crying tears of joy Roxas, I’m so happy right now.” While they were happy over the news, there was an unspoken implication that also caused Xion to break down with tears of joy. For a long time, Xion had fretted over whether or not they were real people. It was an issue that had plagued her for the majority of her life.</p>
<p>They weren’t actively trying to have a kid, but Roxas figured that there was a good likelihood that it was going to happen at some point. It was common knowledge amongst everyone that the pair were quite…amorous whenever the two were together. There was some doubt though over whether or not they could even have a kid together.</p>
<p>When they were first given their replica bodies, Even had explained that these newest bodies were functionally identical to actual human bodies. Despite his insistence, Xion always had a tiny sliver of doubt as to whether or not they were real people.</p>
<p>As a nobody, Xion often worried about whether or not she had a right to exist. Roxas and Axel would both do their best to reassure her otherwise but she never could quite shake those feelings. Those problems didn’t fully disappear when they got their new bodies but it didn’t bother Xion as much. Early on in their relationship though, her insecurities sprang back up:</p>
<p>“Roxas are you sure you want to be with me?”</p>
<p>He paused, “Why would you say something like that?”</p>
<p>She didn’t look him in the eyes, “Well it’s just, how can you be sure that I’ll be good enough for you.”</p>
<p>Roxas always hated whenever she doubted herself like that, he pulled her into a tight hug like he always would, “How many times do I need to tell you that you’re perfect to me. I wouldn’t want to be with anyone else.”</p>
<p>In response, she nuzzled herself into his embrace, “I just worry over whether or not it’s okay for me to exist. It still feels so surreal to me, I’m worried that I’ll end up hurting you again. That I’m not real enough for you.”</p>
<p>“Xion…” he gathered his thoughts for a moment before continuing, “As far as I’m concerned, you’re real to me. I love you, and I want to be with you. If we can breathe, feel, and do anything that a normal person can then we’re real enough. And even if we aren’t real, so what? We have each other, we can be broken together.”</p>
<p>She mumbled, “Thanks Roxas. I’m sorry to always worry you like this.”</p>
<p>He shook his head, “You don’t need to apologize for anything, the only thing I care about is whether or not you’re okay.”</p>
<p>The knowledge that she could get pregnant meant to Xion that she was a real person after all. Her insecurities could finally begin to truly go away as opposed to just lingering there, waiting for an inopportune moment to resurface.</p>
<p>The two stood there as he slowly stroked her hair as she silently cried into his shoulder. Roxas could feel himself starting to cry as well. He always did imagine that he could possibly be a father one day, but he didn’t think that it would actually happen so soon.</p>
<p>“I…I can’t believe it.” Roxas was floored.</p>
<p>“Me neither.” She finally spoke up but her voice was still a little choked from her overwhelming joy.</p>
<p>“Do you know whether it’s going to be a boy or a girl?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know yet.”</p>
<p>“When did you learn that you were pregnant?”</p>
<p>“I took a test a few days ago, I took another one today to be sure that it was positive.”</p>
<p>“We need to start thinking of baby names.”</p>
<p>“We can worry about that stuff later. I just want to enjoy the moment.” She leaned in and began to kiss him and he eagerly kissed her back.</p>
<p>After a minute or two of kissing, she asked him, “What was it that you wanted to say to me?”</p>
<p>His eyes widened as he suddenly remembered the ring that was in his pockets, “Right, I wanted to ask you something.” Stepping back away from her, he quickly searched his pockets. In his excitement over her news, he forgot which one he had the ring in.</p>
<p>From the smile that he saw on her face he suspected that she knew what he wanted to say, but said nothing.</p>
<p>Finally, he found the box and held it out to her. He then suddenly remembered that he had to be on one knee for this. Xion laughed at his fumble,</p>
<p>“You don’t have to be so formal Roxas, you know what my answer is going to be.”</p>
<p>Still on one knee, he opened the box and showed her the ring. It was a white ring to complement the black one that he gave her all those years ago, “I still need to say it.”</p>
<p>Fighting back tears as she wiped a hand across her face, she nodded indicating for him to continue.</p>
<p>“Xion, from the moment I’ve met you, you’ve always been a huge part of my life. You’re the reason that I’ve been able to grow as a person and I can safely say that I wouldn’t be the man that I am today if I never got to meet you.” he added in a pause for dramatic effect and through choked sobs he heard her,</p>
<p>“Continue.”</p>
<p>Starting to get choked up himself, Roxas knew that he needed to finish up soon or else he’d be too overwhelmed to continue. “On the seventh day of my life I met the one girl who would become the absolute love of my life. I can't imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone else. Xion, will you marry me?”</p>
<p>In lieu of an answer she surged forward, he rose from his kneeling position and anticipated her embrace. It surprised him when she instead scooped him up in her arms as she crushed him with a hug. </p>
<p>Her strength always surprised him as he was lifted off of his feet, swung around, and then pressed against the wall of the clock tower. She fiercely kissed him as he reciprocated the kiss with equal fervor and when they pulled back, they rested their foreheads against each other.</p>
<p>She spoke up, “Of course I’ll marry you Roxas. You’ve always been there for me, you’re my light in the dark. You’ve had my heart from the day that I met you and I’ll always love you Roxas.” She smiled at the box that was still in his hand, “You didn’t have to get me another ring though, this one is still perfect enough for me.” She showed him her ring hand for emphasis.</p>
<p>He slipped his own ring hand into hers, “I know, but I like to think of these two rings as equals in terms of the promise that I made long ago and the promise that I intend to make today.”</p>
<p>She kissed his hand, “Oh?”</p>
<p>He rubbed his finger along the black ring, “I gave you this ring when I promised you that I would love you for the rest of my life, and this one…” he let go of her hand so that he could more easily slide the white ring onto her finger. Just like he did all of those years ago. “…is my promise that I’ll spend the rest of my life with you.”</p>
<p>She smirked, “Won’t you have two white rings then Roxas?”</p>
<p>He shook his head, “Nope, I got myself another black ring. After all, we need to have matching rings as a married couple.” He liked how that sounded, the idea of calling Xion his wife.</p>
<p>The rings he got were similar to the ones he had but they had a design engraved on each one. On one ring was the X symbol that seemed to be associated with him. On the other ring was the odd insignia that Xion seemed to bare. It was similar to Sora’s crown but was connected to a mirror version of that same crown. Roxas figured that their engagement rings should have some form of symbolism to them. From the look on Xion’s face she seemed to agree.</p>
<p>She smiled at him, “Sounds good to me, though I am curious now.”</p>
<p>“About what?”</p>
<p>“What do you think will come first, our child or our wedding?”</p>
<p>He shrugged, “Whichever you’d prefer, though there is something that we need to do now.”</p>
<p>“What’s that?”</p>
<p>He jokingly smirked, “We need to go tell Lea and Isa that they’re going to be grandparents.”</p>
<p>She gave him a quick kiss and then backed away while giggling, “Let’s go and break the news then. To everyone.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him along.</p>
<p>Roxas couldn’t believe it. Not only did she say yes, but he also found that he’s going to be a father. He still needed to figure out what they should name their kid. As he followed her along, he could only sigh, </p>
<p>
  <em> We’ll have plenty of time to figure these things out. For now, we should just enjoy ourselves. </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The bit where Xion is fretting over whether she can get pregnant is inspired by one of my favorite moments in Fire Emblem Awakening. Minor spoilers, the character Lissa is always worried as to whether or not she’s a legitimate child and sister to her brother Chrom. This is because the royal brand isn’t anywhere on her that would denote her lineage and legitimacy. When she finds out that she has a son named Owain in the future who does have the brand she starts crying. Owain’s existence proves that she is legitimately related to her family and it comforts her. I found that part sort of relatable for how Xion is constantly fretting over whether or not she is real.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Memories of Ice Cream</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Day 3’s prompt is Ice Cream/Vacation so here’s a nice little piece about ice cream and what it means to Xion. Also I like to headcanon that Xion has a perfect memory (eidetic).</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sea-Salt Ice Cream. This flavor of ice cream had always been a consistent part of her life.</p>
<p>When she first met Roxas, she was hesitant about him. During those first days when she was introduced to everyone in the Organization she had fixated on him. She couldn’t exactly explain why, but she felt an inherent connection to the boy, smiling at him when she first saw him.</p>
<p>For the first few days she watched him, wondering why she felt so curious about him. Those first few days were always such a blurry haze to her as even now she can’t quite recall those days so easily despite her eidetic memory. In hindsight though, it made sense to her. </p>
<p>After all, she was born around the same time as Roxas was and their ages were about the same, only being separated by a week. At some point she was instructed to go on missions with Roxas and that was when their friendship began to truly develop.</p>
<p>During their first mission, she didn’t say much to him as she didn’t know what to say. The first thing she ever said to him was her clarifying that his name was Roxas. After a few days she felt confident enough to show him what she looked like. His amazed expression is one of the things that she’ll always remember as apparently she was the second girl he had ever met.</p>
<p>It was on one of these missions where they fought against a fearsome heartless creature which if she recalls was known as a Darkside. During the fight, Roxas had his Keyblade knocked away from him and she had picked it up and wielded it effortlessly, dispatching the heartless shortly thereafter. </p>
<p>Roxas was nothing short of impressed with her and when they finished their mission he invited her to join him in his daily post mission routine. He referred to it as the “icing on the cake” and she was intrigued by what he meant.</p>
<p>As a reward for her hard work, he gave her an ice cream. The ice cream was known as Sea-Salt Ice Cream, which she found to be sweet yet salty. While they ate he explained that a friend of his named Axel brought him up here one time for some ice cream and it sort of just became their daily ritual from there. </p>
<p>Xion could see why he liked it so much; the clock tower was a tall and isolated place where one could be alone and do some quiet reflection. And it was also a place where you could just admire the setting sun as it washed over the town. Plus, the ice cream was also delicious.</p>
<p>After they were done eating she asked if she could be Roxas’s friend and it made her happy when he said yes. From that day onwards they would make it a point to meet up for ice cream every day where they would just talk. What they talked about didn’t matter, she enjoyed just talking to him. </p>
<p>It was a consistent part of her day that she always looked forward after each mission. Even early on in her life within the Organization it was clear to her that she likes spending time with him. When she heard that Roxas had collapsed suddenly on a mission and fell into a deep sleep it worried her.</p>
<p>While she visited him each day to check on him she would still go to the clock tower. Sometimes she would leave a seashell next to him as a way of letting him know that she’s always thinking of him. Without Roxas there to keep her company, she would often feel lonely at the clock tower. She’d still eat ice cream but it didn’t feel the same to her. </p>
<p>The ice cream was still sweet yet salty, but if she had to be honest it didn’t feel as fulfilling to her. In all sincere honesty, she considered the possibility that she liked having ice cream because Roxas was there with her. </p>
<p>There was also nothing to really do at the clock tower by herself aside from looking out over the town and quietly reflecting over the day’s events. With that in mind she made it a point to spend most of her free time with the unconscious Roxas.</p>
<p>Truth be told, she had her own selfish desires for wanting Roxas to wake up aside from concern about his well being. She wanted her friend and constant companion to come back so that she would have someone to actually talk to. Despite being in a group known as Organization XIII, they weren’t really organized.</p>
<p>Shortly after she was inducted to the group, half of the members (including the other person that Roxas referred to as a friend) had left on a long mission and she found that she couldn’t really relate to her fellow members. </p>
<p>Xemnas was far too distant from anyone to talk to and he spent most of his free time staring at the moon in the sky. If she had to be honest, he unnerved her a little and she wondered if he knew how to talk to someone normally. It wasn’t like the others were much more relatable though.</p>
<p>Xigbar was nice enough at least, he always seemed to be friendly and would talk to her but she felt like he was always messing with her somehow. Xaldin was cold and distant towards her when she invited him to join her on the clock tower so she didn’t bother talking to him unless she needed to. Her superior Saïx was indifferent to her at best and she didn’t like being around him for extended periods of time. </p>
<p>Demyx was pleasant to be around but hanging out with him usually resulted in him trying to pawn off his workload onto you. Luxord was decent and relaxing to be around but he always seemed to be more focused on his games. If she had to be honest though there was another reason why she couldn’t connect with her fellow members as much. She just couldn’t relate to the others as much as she could relate to Roxas.</p>
<p>Nobodies, as she had been told, have fragmented pieces of their memories from when they were whole that act as the basis for how they behave despite not being able to properly emote and feel. </p>
<p>For Xion though she had no memory of her past. From what she heard, Roxas was also just like her as he too didn’t have memories of his past life. So that was also a thing that she shared with him. </p>
<p>The Keyblade was the other thing that the two had in common and it made her a little giddy to think about. They had something the others didn’t, a unique bond based on shared weapons and skills. It made her feel like the two of them were meant to be good friends, that they were fated to meet.</p>
<p>Xion struggled as she hauled the bucket down the hallway towards Roxas’s room, making sure not to spill any of the suddy water inside of it. This was a common occurrence as when she first started visiting him after her missions she made a startling discovery. Apparently the Dusks that were assigned to watch over Roxas had made it a habit of messing with him while he slept. </p>
<p>Personally she didn’t mind the lesser nobodies who often flitted about the castle mindlessly and tended to the upkeep affairs. But she didn’t like seeing them pick on Roxas when he can’t do anything about it. It disappointed her a little to see that her fellow Organization members were so nonchalant about his well being, unconcerned as to whether or not he’ll wake up again.</p>
<p>When she entered, the Dusks looked at her and then wordlessly flitted away. She looked at her friend’s unconscious body. <em> He looks so serene, I wish they wouldn’t mess with him though. </em> </p>
<p>Once again the Dusks had doodled on his face. Admittedly while she found it a little funny, it wasn’t nice to do this sort of thing when he can’t respond to their antics. </p>
<p>Hauling the bucket up onto his nightstand by the bed she produced a sponge from her coat pockets and soaked it in the soapy water while also taking out a small towel. Securing cleaning supplies was the easy part, cleaning up Roxas’s face was the more involved part.</p>
<p>“Sorry Roxas.” she gently gripped the back of his head to prop it up while rubbing his face with the other hand that held the sponge. She wasn’t unsure just how much he could feel while he was asleep so she made it a point to be as gentle as possible so that she didn’t accidentally hurt him. </p>
<p>Dabbing his brow with the sponge, she tenderly rubbed his face. While the markers that the Dusks used were potent, Xion now had enough experience to properly wipe away their shenanigans. </p>
<p>It felt odd to her to be touching her friend’s face like this but she was sure that if he knew what she was doing, he wouldn’t mind. <em> I’ll just treat him to some extra ice cream if I end up hurting him somehow. </em></p>
<p>With the marker stains gone, she rubbed his face with the towel. The second half was always much easier and his face was all nice and dry within a minute or two with no visible blemishes or smudges. </p>
<p>For whatever reason, she always felt an odd urge to slowly run her hands through his hair or caress his cheek while she worked. Every time she felt the urge though, she managed to fight it off. It confused her though as to why it kept popping up. </p>
<p>Content with her work she set the cleaning equipment aside with a smile as she smoothed out an area on his bed for herself to sit down. She avoided sitting on the seashells that she had already brought him. Remembering why she came here, she fished out another seashell from her coat pocket and set it down next to the other ones she had brought.</p>
<p>Twiddling her fingers, she thought about what to say to him. This was always the most awkward part to her because after all, what could you say to someone who can’t respond to you. It did make for good practice though to help her sound more eloquent when speaking to the other members. The simple approach sounded good to her.</p>
<p>“Hey, how’ve you been Roxas?” Xion smiled at him, “Enjoying your time off, you lazy bum?” She hoped that if he heard her he’d find it funny. </p>
<p>“I got you another seashell, I got this one at Destiny Islands again. I think this is one of the prettier ones I’ve found.” She looked at the yellow and blue thalassa seashell that she found today.</p>
<p>“I’ve been well, you know just gathering hearts and dealing with our superior’s mood swings.” She looked around nervously while pursing her lips together. No matter how many times she’s done it, it doesn’t get magically easier for her. </p>
<p>“The sunset looked nice today, you should’ve seen it. I hope when you wake up we can get ice cream together again, it gets pretty lonely without you. I miss you.” For whatever reason she felt her cheeks begin to heat up, she didn’t know why though.</p>
<p>She felt bad that all she could do is just sit here and talk to him. Early on she had tried giving him potions and even casting cure magic to see if it would help him wake up. Seeing that it didn’t work she settled on just keeping him company. An odd idea had crossed her mind as she considered trying an odd gesture that she saw recently.</p>
<p>On Destiny Islands she had decided to explore the mainland. Keeping in line with the Organization’s rules she kept to the background and minimized her presence as she observed the townspeople. </p>
<p>She saw one person greet another by clamping their hand on their shoulder and squeezing it. Xion assumed that it was a friendly gesture. Replicating the motion she gently squeezed her friend’s shoulder and she felt an odd spark. Strangely enough, he felt really warm and it felt good to touch him like this.</p>
<p>“I just want you to know that I miss you and that I’m here for you Roxas, I’ll see you tomorrow.” She noticed that she was still holding onto his shoulder and retracted her hand with a sheepish grin, “Sorry.”</p>
<p>Before she left his room she paused to look at him and flexed her fingers, <em> He feels really warm though. </em></p>
<p>When he awoke, she was excited to see him up and moving again. She was also happy to see that he liked the seashells that she gathered for him. Further still, the ice cream began to taste good to her again which proved her point about why she enjoyed it so much. </p>
<p>When she was introduced to Axel she liked the idea that their ice cream meetings would now be more lively. Selfishly though, she felt a little jealous that she would have to “share” her ice cream time with Roxas. </p>
<p>Those moments she spent with Roxas felt private and intimate to her, like they shared a little secret together. Axel still became one of her best friends and she felt a little ashamed at what she previously felt towards the red haired man as they began to talk and bond.</p>
<p>Sea-salt ice cream could be considered one of the main symbols of her friendship with her fellow nobodies. It was a comforting presence and no matter how stressful the day had been, she could always look forward to. </p>
<p>It was such a constant ritual between the three of them that during the times where she wouldn’t show up Roxas would seek her out worried about her. It was always so sweet of him to be so concerned about her.</p>
<p>When they were tragically pitted against one another, they shared ice cream one last time before she attacked him. At the time she saw it as her way of apologizing to him for what she was going to do. </p>
<p>Now she sees it as her sharing one last moment with her best friend as she always liked to do, unsure as to whether or not she’ll see him again. She’s glad that she was proven wrong though; she’s ecstatic that they not only get to share more ice cream together but that they also get to share it with more people.</p>
<p>Like many things, having ice cream with friends also changed for her when she gained a new heart and body. Aside from the taste of the ice cream becoming more profound it took on a different edge. One of the first things she did when she came back to Twilight Town was go to the clock tower and have some ice cream. </p>
<p>She was greeted by Axel and Roxas, and Roxas stared at her new outfit with wonderment in his eyes. Saïx then surprised her by showing up with ice cream and then Roxas’s new friends showed up as well. It was like a little party on the clock tower, she felt a little overwhelmed in all honesty but she adjusted quickly.</p>
<p>From that day onwards it was always a fun gamble to see who would be up on the clock tower waiting for her. While she couldn’t eat ice cream every day now that she had to actually think about things such as sugar intake or nutrition it was always a nice option that she could treat herself to if she so desired.</p>
<p>One of the other things that she also learned was that there were in fact other flavors of ice cream aside from Sea Salt. Sea Salt ice cream was always the default for her because she was so used to the taste and it was such an ingrained part of her routine that she never questioned. Now that she had so much free time on her hands she began to experiment. </p>
<p>She tried all kinds of flavors such as: Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry, and Mint. There wasn’t a specific flavor that she preferred (aside from Sea-Salt) but she enjoyed just trying out all of the different possibilities. </p>
<p>It was one of the things that she began messing around with as she adjusted to living a normal life, or at least as normal a life as a Keyblade wielder could have. She also found herself rotating between different spots where she could enjoy her frozen treat.</p>
<p>There was the spot that was the usual hangout for Hayner, Pence, and Olette that she liked. It has a very cozy feeling to it and she’s grateful that they let her hang out in it. The new bistro was always an option though that would usually entail her ordering a meal from there. Another spot was also outside the old mansion.</p>
<p>Despite the bad memories she has of that place, it’s a nice quiet spot and even if she feels overwhelmed she can always just settle for being in the forest. She even had a picnic a few times outside the gates with her friends. To her, being with her friends always helped any uneasy feelings that she had. However, there was always the clock tower that she would inevitably visit at least once a week.</p>
<p>She may not go there to have ice cream every time any more but it was still a nice place to go and do some quiet reflection and observe the seemingly perpetual sunset that she loved watching. Better still, she would sometimes discover when getting there that someone else was there. No one in the group ever formally made plans, people would just come and go. </p>
<p>Personally she found it exciting as it was a little mystery as to who could possibly be up there when she went. Everyone knew her routine so everyone would know what time and what day that she preferred being there as she was very routine about it. If someone wanted to spend some time with her, they’d know where to find her.</p>
<p>Sometimes it would be Isa and Lea, and other times it would be Roxas’s new friends that she learned were named Hayner, Pence, Olette. The trio were nice to talk to and she was glad that they somehow already knew who they were, it made introductions a lot easier. Even Naminé would be at the clock tower sometimes when she came to visit Twilight Town. Evidently she and Roxas convinced Naminé to join them at their hang out spot. </p>
<p>While things were understandably awkward between her and her former superior, Lea was there to help smooth things out. If Lea liked Isa so much then Xion would be willing to give him a chance, even if it took a long time for her to truly trust him. The idea of having more friends around that were around her ‘age’ so to speak appealed to her.</p>
<p>Hayner while boisterous was always a good guy to be around and knew how to make the conversation more lively, she likes him. Pence was very friendly and always seemed to be the most curious about her and Roxas’s past. Sometimes she indulged him whenever she felt comfortable talking about it. Olette was nice to talk to, the other girl becoming something of a confidant to her in regards to ‘girl things’. </p>
<p>“Hey guys!” Xion waved as she moved past the curtain that acted as the makeshift door to the trio's usual hangout.</p>
<p>“Hey you made it!” Hayner waved her in as Pence handed her an ice cream which Xion thanked him for.</p>
<p>“Thank you for inviting me.”</p>
<p>“Any friend of Roxas is a friend of ours.” Hayner declared.</p>
<p>“How did you guys meet Roxas anyway?” Xion was always curious about this detail as when they first met the trio Roxas acted like they were always friends. He never told her about them so Xion was very confused.</p>
<p>All three of them went silent as she could tell that even they didn’t know how to answer that question. It was Pence who spoke up.</p>
<p>“Uh...when Sora came back to Twilight Town a while ago, he showed us this picture.” He pointed towards a photo on the wall that was the trio in front of the mansion’s iron gates plus Roxas in the outfit that he normally wears. </p>
<p>The explanation did nothing to alleviate her previous confusion. “Okay?”</p>
<p>Pence continued, pointing to another photo that was the same one but was just the three of them. “It was an exact copy of this one but we had no clue as to how he got it.” </p>
<p>Pence took a moment to consider his next explanation before elaborating, “Sora told us that there was this digital copy of Twilight Town where apparently he was led to believe that the four of us were all best friends.”</p>
<p>“That’s...weird.” Out of all the things Xion had heard, this was one of the weirder concepts that she had come across.</p>
<p>Hayner shrugged, “At the time, we just rolled with it. You know, just indulging Sora because he always seems to be going on about whatever. I didn’t really expect much. Then we got involved with that Ansem guy and the computer in the basement and it started clicking for me.”</p>
<p>Hayner took a bite out of his ice cream before going on, “Sure enough, I was shocked when this random guy came up to me, dressed like he was in the photo that Sora showed me. He then started acting like we were already friends and I decided to just roll with it.”</p>
<p>Olette chimed in, “If it helps, Roxas immediately came off as a nice guy. Plus it helped us get to know the rest of you better.”</p>
<p>Xion took in their explanation and then nodded in understanding, “I see. It’s a shame that he couldn’t join us today.”</p>
<p>A devilish grin flashed over Olette’s features, “I’ve been meaning to ask you, what’s the deal between you and Roxas?”</p>
<p>“Deal?”</p>
<p>Hayner huffed, “Olette, just because you find Roxas-” he was silenced with a glare from the other girl.</p>
<p>“Is Roxas your boyfriend?”</p>
<p>“Yes?” she felt confused by the other girl’s question.</p>
<p>Olette accepted her answer with a curt grin, “I see. I figured as much, you two definitely give off that impression.”</p>
<p>“What impression?”</p>
<p>Comprehension seemed to come over Olette as she and the two other boys began to chuckle.</p>
<p>Now Xion was slightly annoyed, “What’s so funny you guys?”</p>
<p>“I’m sorry Xion. It’s just something that you’ll learn about soon. We didn’t mean to offend you.” Olette tried to reassure her.</p>
<p>“Oh, okay. Maybe you could tell me another time?” Olette nodded and then the group began to properly eat their ice cream as they talked about other things. </p>
<p>In hindsight, Xion should’ve known what Olette was insinuating about her and Roxas. In her defense though, she was rather clueless about such topics at the time. Naminé was also a regular on the clock tower when she came to visit Twilight Town. Xion likes spending time with her as well.</p>
<p>“Hey Naminé.” Xion smiled as she saw the blond haired girl sitting on the ledge with her sketchpad in one hand and a pencil in the other.</p>
<p>At the sound of her name being called Naminé turned to acknowledge Xion’s arrival. She patted the spot next to her as Xion made her way towards Naminé’s spot. Xion noticed the sketchpad and was curious, “Whatcha doing?”</p>
<p>Naminé’s eyes lit up as she showed Xion the page, “I’ve been drawing the town, day by day. I figured that this spot is the best view to work from.”</p>
<p>“You’re right, it looks really good. Want to take a break?” She offered an ice cream to her friend and Naminé smiled at her offer.</p>
<p>“Thank you, and thank you. You really seem to like Sea Salt ice cream the most.”</p>
<p>Xion shrugged, “It’s good to have a preference. I like all types of ice cream though, I haven't found one that I don’t like yet.”</p>
<p>“Fair enough. Back when I was working on fixing Sora’s memories I had some of this flavor from time to time. Riku liked to sneak me some on occasion when Ansem wasn’t looking.”</p>
<p>Xion frowned at the mention of the past, though she didn’t mean to. Regardless, Naminé noticed her friend’s discomfort, “Sorry.”</p>
<p>Xion shook her head, “No, it’s fine. So what do you think of the ice cream?”</p>
<p>Naminé took a bite and then remarked, “Sweet...yet salty.”</p>
<p>Xion waved around her ice cream enthusiastically, “That’s what I said the first time I had it!”</p>
<p>“Honestly, I am pretty jealous though.” </p>
<p>“About what?” Now Xion was confused.</p>
<p>A look of surprise crossed Naminé’s face. Maybe she didn’t intend to say that tidbit out loud. “Well I mean, you, Roxas, and Lea had a nice spot where you could just hang out and be friends. It must’ve been nice having a little safe haven to yourselves.”</p>
<p>Xion had to concede the point, “It was, but now it’s your spot too. You’re free to come here whenever you want to. I’m sorry that you were alone for so long.”</p>
<p>Naminé shyly looked away, “Thank you. It wasn’t all bad though. Riku was there to keep me company, he did his best and he made a good portion of those days bearable.</p>
<p>Memories of Roxas comforting her flashed into Xion. <em> Just like how Roxas was there for me. We’re more alike than I realize. </em></p>
<p>“You should invite Riku here some time, I’m sure he’d like this place as well.”</p>
<p>Naminé gave her a wry smile, “You think he and Roxas will play nice?” </p>
<p>“We’ll make them play nice.” Both girls shared a good laugh after that as they continued eating their ice cream.</p>
<p>Everyone was always such good company but unsurprisingly, she liked it the most when Roxas was there with her. Those moments would sometimes take her back to those first few days where it was just the two of them. It feels slightly different to her now though.</p>
<p>Before they got their hearts sharing ice cream with her best friend felt more simple. They would greet each other and then eat before talking about their days. </p>
<p>Now while they still did those things they would also hug each other or sometimes just hold hands. Roxas still felt really warm to her, even after they gained the ability to truly feel. When they fell in love with each other it took on yet another edge.</p>
<p>Having ice cream on the clock tower alone became their sort of default date spot. Sometimes they would catch a movie together, other times they went out for dinner, and on the rare occasion that they could, they even went to other worlds to go sightseeing. But it was still nice to have a default option that they could rely on.</p>
<p>“Are you satisfied yet?” laughed Roxas in between kisses.</p>
<p>“Nope.” said Xion as she went in for another one.</p>
<p>After they pulled back Roxas waved around the ice cream in his hand, “The ice cream will start melting if we keep going.”</p>
<p>While using her free hand to hold his face in place, Xion pouted, “As far as I’m concerned, you’re the sweetest treat that I can have.”</p>
<p>Roxas rested his free hand on hers, “I can say the same thing about you. But this ice cream looks pretty tasty right now.”</p>
<p>In response she smirked, “Flattery just gets you more kisses. Are you sure you want to stop?”</p>
<p>“I know, but I don’t want good ice cream to go to waste. Let’s have our ice cream and then we can continue for as long as you want.”</p>
<p>She pouted again, “Deal, I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into. Can you just indulge me for a few more seconds?”</p>
<p>“Of course I know what I’m getting myself into. Hence why I want to finish our ice cream first.” He leaned in and kissed her again.</p>
<p>As she kissed him back, Xion thought about her past once more. </p>
<p>
  <em>When I was a nobody everything felt so cold. The ice cream was cold, I felt cold, no matter where I went, I always felt slightly cold. I’ve never felt cold around Roxas though, he’s always felt so warm to be around. No matter how much things change, I know at least one thing won’t change. Roxas still feels very warm and I love being around him. </em>
</p>
<p>After they pulled back, they resumed eating their ice cream. When Xion finished her ice cream she looked at the stick. Inscribed on it was the word “Winner”.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This was a nice and relaxing piece for me to write and I hope you enjoyed it.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Two Warriors and a lot of Heartless</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Day 4 is Battle Couple/Training so it’s time for some back to back asskicking. Please excuse any liberties that I’ve taken in regards to interpreting their fighting capabilities and abilities. I just like the idea of them being very stylish.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The Heartless had resurged in great numbers and were rampant in Radiant Garden as of late and Roxas and Xion volunteered to go and take care of them. They were in the valley where Sora had once charged a horde of 1,000 heartless by himself. They had already cut down a number comparable to what Sora had faced with no signs of them slowing down soon. Roxas took a moment to survey his surroundings, he was surrounded.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There were Heartless all around him of various shapes and sizes. From what he could gather, the heartless closest to him were known as Soldiers and Air Soldiers. Some of the soldiers also looked different from the others. Roxas assumed they were the leaders of this group, or at least as much of a leader there could be within the heartless. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Slowly, he circled the keyblades around in his hands, attempting to keep the heartless at bay while also readying himself if he needed to counter an attack.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jumping to the side he avoided a lunging swipe from one of the closer soldiers. One of the Air Soldiers attempted to barrel into him from the side but was promptly cut off by a bolt of energy. Another shot also landed close to him, barely missing a heartless that Roxas then cut down. Roxas smirked as he recognized the technique. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I guess you’re finished in your area?” he asked aloud to no one. He knew that it was Xion, who else could it be? Xion had a habit of sometimes switching up her weapons when fighting. According to her, it’s a good strategy to incorporate different styles. </span>
</p>
<p><span>Due to her powers to replicate abilities, she could copy the powers of the members of the old Organization XIII. Roxas recognized this weapon as having belonged to Xigbar, the Sniper and Marksman of the Organization.</span> <span>With a smirk and a shrug of his shoulders, he twirled his keyblades around and pointed them towards the Heartless.</span></p>
<p>
  <span>“Why not? If Xion wants to practice ranged combat then so can I.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He began to cast firaga spells, taking advantage of having two keys to split his attacks amongst multiple targets. As he set the heartless on fire, shots from afar struck the heartless all around him. Wanting to get some distance from the heartless, Roxas slowly moved his way through the gap that he and Xion had created. His intention was to move away so that Xion could freely shoot without fear of hitting him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Recognizing that his magical reserves had depleted he moved away, sidestepping a claw of one of the leader soldier’s and cut the heartless down. Behind him a shape stirred and he made to defend himself, a large chameleon esque heartless had managed to sneak up on him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before it could swing at him, an object crashed down on it’s back and swept away the surrounding heartless with a large blast of wind.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xaldin’s lance was embedded in the ground as the defeated heartless dissipated around Xion. Roxas smiled, appreciating his companion’s timely arrival. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As she wrenched the lance out of the ground he took a swig of an ether, using her makeshift barrier as an opportunity to recover himself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nice of you to drop in.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion winked at him, “It looked like you needed some help.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He shrugged, “Not really.” He quickly tossed his Keyblade at a Neoshadow that strayed too close, “But I appreciate your help nonetheless.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Laughing, Xion looked around the battlefield, “You’re surrounded you know?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With a wry chuckle of his own, Roxas caught his Keyblade, “That just means I can swing in any direction. I have a technique for this kind of scenario.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion chucked a lance that pierced through several heartless, “Show me then.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Without a word, Roxas snapped his fingers and blades of light began to circle around him. Charging back into the fray towards some Neoshadows and regular shadows, the blades of light cut down heartless all around him with little need for him to exert himself. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Not wanting to be out done Xion noticed some Darkballs that were making their way towards the rampaging Roxas and decided to focus her attention on them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Focusing her mind, she transformed her weapon from Xaldin’s Lances into Isa’s Claymore. With her free hand she casted an Aeroga spell and pulled the heartless into a tornado. Letting the moon’s power flow within her she felt the luna rage wash over her. Letting out a fierce shout, she launched herself into the spiralling Darkballs.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They were an easy target and she swung at them. Her attack caused the Darkballs to bunch up against her weapon and with one mighty swing she launched them. The shockwave of the impact was felt around the battlefield and it made Roxas pause. While the light blades still protected him, he observed the glowing Xion who was now rampaging and smashing other heartless with relative ease all around her while she was berserk.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wow.” was all he could mutter. Roxas knew that he had to step up his efforts if he wanted to match her. As he saw her begin to calm down, he made his way towards her. Anytime she used such a power it would exhaust her and Roxas knew that he had to be there so that she could safely cool down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Launching the blades with a thought, he eliminated the remaining heartless around her. Handing her a potion, Xion drank it immediately.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you. I can see why Isa likes doing this sort of thing. It’s a great way to vent your anger.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hopefully you don’t do that to me.” Roxas jokingly threw his hands in front of him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You? Never!” Xion mocked offense and the pair laughed before gathering their strength again. Shoulder to shoulder, the pair considered their options as the heartless stabilized themselves. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ready to finish this Xion?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A flash of light flickered in his peripheral vision as Xion had resummoned her Keyblade, “Yep.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The two charged into the horde as light flared all around the pair. While they cut down more heartless, Roxas called out to her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I have an idea Xion!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What is it?” She blocked an attack and pushed her attacker away.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I was thinking that we could have our own joint attack, like how Sora and his friends have a cool team up attack.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright, give me a suggestion.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Start swinging around with me, I want to get them bunched up.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He backed up into her as she swung her Keyblade while he followed up as they fought back to back. Their makeshift whirlwind began to pull in the heartless as the weaker heartless were immediately cut down while the stronger ones were staggered. When enough heartless had been corralled into a group, they jumped away and Roxas revealed the next part of his idea to her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can you keep the heartless together with some light pillars?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Casually flickering her hand, a circle of light formed under the group. “Easy.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pulling his arms back, light began to charge within his two Keyblades as Xion called down more pillars of light to keep the Heartless at bay.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas swung both arms forwards with two massive light blades engulfing his Keyblades. His wide swings engulfed the rest of the Heartless who were bound within the circle by Xion’s own light magic and destroyed them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Surveying the damage, Xion nodded in approval, “Nice.” She gave him a high five but before they could leave, a fierce and powerful bellow echoed in the area. Turning their heads in the direction the sound came from, the pair saw that there were still two heartless left. It was a pair of Behemoths.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas was exasperated, “Where did they come from!?!?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion was equally clueless, “I don’t know but they don’t look too happy!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One of the Behemoths jumped over the pair with a mighty leap. When it landed, the ground shook for a brief moment as Xion briefly lost her balance. Shooting a hand around her, Roxas caught her and she thanked him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You want to split up?” He asked her and she considered it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Divide and conquer?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas nodded, “I bet I can defeat one faster than you can.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>From the look on her face, he figured that Xion came up with an idea.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If I beat one before you do, what do I win?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Playfully smiling, Roxas considered his answer, “Loser has to do what the winner says for the rest of the day.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With a nod, Xion agreed to his terms, “Don’t come crying to me when you have to take care of the laundry later.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas scoffed, “That’s my line!” He then charged the Behemoth as Xion went after the other one. While he had never seen one before, he knew enough from what he had read that it wasn’t a foe to be taken lightly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas’s behemoth charged him at a staggering pace as it roared at him defiantly. Evidently it’s bulk didn’t diminish any of it’s speed. Lowering its head, the Behemoth attempted to ram Roxas head on. Before he was hit, he zipped to the side in a reversal. The beast tried to turn itself around but couldn’t slow down enough. With its side exposed, Roxas charged it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He first attacked the foot, testing to see how resistant it was to his strikes. While it yielded some results, his blows were shrugged off and he opted to aim somewhere else. Underneath the beast, he swiped along the creature's belly, which while evidently damaging it, didn’t give him the result he was looking for. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In retaliation, the Behemoth reared back on its hind legs and Roxas saw its feet cloaked in fire. Running away, Roxas narrowly avoided the fiery stomp as he briefly shifted into a light dart to avoid the shockwave. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Facing it from the front once more, Roxas ran from side to side to as shards of ice flew from the monster’s mouth. From his initial observations, Roxas had guessed that the creature’s weak point was it’s horn. Firing off a light orb, he watched as it homed in on its horn and struck it causing the Behemoth a visible injury. When the beast staggered and lowered itself onto the ground Roxas leapt onto it’s back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>While the beast was still stunned Roxas raised his Keyblades up as he charged up his own light pillars. Normally he would send these pillars outwards towards a target and then have them spread out as a wide attack but he decided to focus the attack into a drill like maneuver. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With a grunt of effort, Roxas plunged the Keyblades downwards into the horn and the resulting roar of pain that he heard proved his observations to be correct. The Behemoth began to shake itself violently as Roxas clung onto one of it’s tusks. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Despite his efforts, Roxas was thrown off the beast and fell towards the ground, crashing into it. Rolling with the impact he planted one of his Keyblades into the ground in order to slow down his momentum.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Coming to a stand still, Roxas stood up and with a smirk, wiped the dust off his sleeves. Any sort of tactics that the Behemoth may’ve had were now lost to it’s berserk fury as it lowered its head and charged Roxas head on with a dark malevolent aura engulfing it. There was no time to dodge its charge so Roxas lowered his stance and readied his Keyblades for one final strike, Zantetsuken.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Taking a deep breath to steady himself and steel his mind he concentrated on the charging beast. He needed to focus, he only had one shot. Replicating the motions that he’s seen before he brought his Keyblades around and pulled back. When he figured that he was at the optimal range, he jumped towards the beast and sliced through.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When he landed, he turned around and saw the heartless dissipating into darkness. To his surprise, Xion’s Behemoth was nowhere to be seen. He wondered whether Xion had finished her Behemoth before he did. In all honesty, it could go either way.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>While Roxas had fought his Behemoth, Xion was matching his pace. Where Roxas was headstrong, Xion was cautious. Her Behemoth had it’s head lowered and was charging some ball of dark energy between its tusks, using its horn as a focusing point. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion knew that she didn’t have time to interrupt the attack. Throwing up a barrier, Xion watched as the dark ball shot into the air and then spread out into smaller spheres that began to home in on her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jumping backwards into the air, energy formed at the tip of her Keyblade and she fired off Ragnarok to intercept the attack. Beams of energy and spheres of dark collided in small explosions. When the dust settled, Xion leapt into the air and began to glide forward as the creature recovered for a few seconds.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As she flew, the beast charged up another attack and then let loose several bolts of lightning that she managed to avoid for the most part. Unfortunately, one of them struck dangerously close to her and forced her to stop only a few feet away from it. Only her hastily thrown up barrier prevented serious damage as she took a moment to reorient herself. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Behemoth whipped itself at Xion, intending to use it’s size to sweep her away but she rolled away from it. It jumped backwards and with a considerable amount of distance between the two, the Behemoth leapt into the air, intending to crush her. The attack narrowly missed her as Xion rolled away once more.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion knew she had to keep it from moving around and figured that she could use it’s considerable size against it. Letting loose with a mighty Graviga spell, she forced the Behemoth to crash into the ground as it tried to jump around again. This had the intended result of slamming it down while also staggering it. Casting Graviga again, Xion tried to keep it pinned down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Graviga held the mighty beast down despite it’s struggling and Xion casually climbed onto it’s back, while taking a moment to replenish her magical reserves. The luna rage began to wash over her once more as she guessed that the horn was it’s primary source of power and chose to focus on it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Instead of fully powering up, she instead opted to let it power up some of her strikes by only a little bit. While it wouldn’t make her much stronger, it would allow her to safely power down without too much trouble.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Engulfed in a small blue aura, she began to wail on it’s horn as the residual energy from the Graviga spell still kept it held down. When her Keyblade began to plink off the horn harmlessly, she made a decision to jump off it’s back. The interruption had allowed her to regain control of her senses as she made to avoid the lightning strikes once more. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Watching it charge up the dark sphere again, Xion knew she had to stop it. Charging up her light pillars again, she rained down several pillars as the dark sphere rose up. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before it could split into more spheres, her attacks slammed into the Behemoth as the light consumed it. After confirming it’s destruction, Xion turned and saw Roxas. She only had one thought on her mind, did she lose the competition?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion noticed that Roxas’s Behemoth was also fading away. “So...who won?” she warily asked him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before Roxas could answer, a fierce roar came over the valley. Unsure of where it came from, the two looked around before a large shadow passed by overhead. Craning their heads upwards they observed yet another Heartless that had entered the battlefield. This new arrival was a large draconian esque Heartless that Roxas recognized after a few seconds.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A familiar sense of dread washed over him as he recognized the new arrival. “Oh no.” he muttered to himself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Curious about Roxas’s reaction, Xion turned to him, “What is it Roxas?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A Dustflier. It’s a very nasty Heartless that I once had to fight. I was under the impression that the one I fought was the only one in existence.” Roxas hesitantly said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>On perhaps what Roxas considered to be the fourth worst day of his life, he had fought the Dustflier. As part of his mission for that day, Roxas had to vanquish several extremely powerful Heartless in Twilight Town. The Dustflier was the last one he fought that day. At the time, Roxas was convinced that Saïx was purposefully trying to get him killed that day.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you remember how to fight it?” Xion warily asked, not used to seeing Roxas so taken aback.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes. It primarily likes to slam into the ground, causing shockwaves to shoot outwards. Those can mess you up really bad. It also likes to shoot out a volley of explosive fireballs, swing it’s massive spike tail around, and is all around a nasty opponent with high defense and a potent resistance to magic.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Any weak points?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not really, but it’s wing joints are where it seems to be the most vulnerable.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If you could beat this thing by yourself, then we can take it together.” Xion smiled at him reassuringly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas returned the smile, “I know we can. It’s just going to be painful. We need to get it’s attention, draw it away from the direction of the town. The Dustflier is very aggressive and will mainly stick to the ground in order to attack once provoked.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>From the look on her face, Xion was planning something. “I’ve got this.” and before he could protest, she vanished.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Still keeping his attention on the Dustflier, Roxas observed Xion suddenly appear above it. She descended towards the wyvern with a giant Axe-Sword in her hands that was once used by Lexaeus. The weapon was coated with some sort of magic as she slammed the giant weapon into the Dustflier’s back with a deafening crack sounding out as her strike met its target. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It amazed him to see the creature plummet into the ground so sudden and violently, but Roxas knew it wouldn’t be enough to destroy the creature.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion went down with it but was otherwise unharmed and she vanished again, reappearing by Roxas’s side shortly afterwards.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Did I get it’s attention?” Xion asked sarcastically. A loud screech answered her question for her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hope you’re ready Xion.” Roxas readied his Keyblades once more as the creature with a flap of its wings soared up and then crashed downwards. They jumped away to avoid the shockwave and the follow up strike as it lunged towards them, swinging it’s massive tail around.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After dodging the tail swing the duo each took a swing at a wing. They were only able to land a small combo before it swept it’s wings to launch itself backwards into the air and away from their attacks. The resulting gust of wind blew them backwards and they watched as it reared its head back, fire building in its mouth.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas’s eyes widened as he recognized what the Dustflier was doing. Grabbing Xion’s arm, he pulled her in his direction, “START FLYING NOW!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Not wasting any time asking for clarification, Xion sprang into a glide alongside Roxas as the Dustflier began raining down fireballs. Briefly turning her head, Xion saw one fireball crash into the ground and then expand into a massive explosion.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her face went pale as she realized that the salvo of fireballs being unleashed were all of the same power. “Roxas! We need to split up! We’re an easy target bunched up like this!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas nodded, “Right.” They went in separate directions as explosions rang out in the valley. Narrowly avoiding the searing flames, they managed to dodge the attack relatively unscathed. Craters littered the area when the Dustflier’s onslaught ended and the pair regrouped and briefly hid in one of the craters not far from it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now Xion was shaken up, “What was that!?!?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas was just as unnerved, “I told you it could do that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah and I thought it would be little fireballs, not these gigantic explosions! How did you defeat this thing?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Very carefully.” was Roxas’s short response, “Ready to go again?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Despite her newfound hesitance, Xion nodded, steeling herself once more, “Let’s go.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leaping over the lip of the crater the pair charged the Dustflier who saw them approach and screeched. Swiping it’s tail around the Dustflier launched some loose rocks as a makeshift barrier. They dodged and Xion without thinking launched a Stopga spell. She didn’t expect the spell to work, but it held the beast for a few seconds allowing them to safely approach.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Scoring more hits at it’s wing joints, Xion called out to Roxas. “I can stop it for a few seconds.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas’s confusion was visible, “I thought magic wasn’t so good against this thing?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe it was only resistant to the kinds of magic that you knew? Maybe we just need to weaken it some more and we can stop it for longer and longer” Xion suggested as she swerved away from the wyvern, the creature swiping it’s head at her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sounds good to me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Dustflier then promptly jumped back and caused another shockwave. Xion was quick enough to avoid it but Roxas was caught by it and was thrown off his feet. Stumbling up onto his feet Roxas groggily held his head in his hand. Dazed and unaware, he could not hear Xion’s warning as the Dustflier reared around for another swipe of its tail.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With no time to pull the two of them out of the way Xion made a rash decision. Tightly gripping his arm, she hurled him out of the tail’s trajectory and attempted to throw up a barrier to protect herself. Despite her best efforts the tail slammed into her barrier and launched her across the valley and she cried out in pain.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas immediately snapped out of his confusion and narrowed onto the Dustflier, he felt furious. His clumsiness had gotten Xion hurt. He’ll make the Dustflier pay for that. Engulfing himself with light, his Keyblades began to power up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Letting loose a furious warcry, Roxas leapt at the Heartless and cut off the fireball that it was charging as Roxas staggered it with blow after blow, knocking the Dustflier onto its side. Absolutely livid, Roxas continued his assault as the Dustflier roared out in pain. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It didn’t last however as the Dustlier’s tail whipped around and Roxas was forced to block and was knocked back. It wasn’t as powerful a blow as the one that sent Xion flying, but it served its purpose. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wings flapped as it righted itself back onto its feet and blew him away before taking to the sky once more. Flying up and above Roxas, it dove forward and gripped Roxas in one of its talons and swooped into a backwards somersault, launching Roxas into the air.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Getting his bearings, Roxas let himself fall towards the Dustflier as he watched it prepare another volley of fireballs. Gliding to the side Roxas nimbly dodged each fireball as its shots were becoming less focused and more desperate. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Even as Roxas avoided the first barrage a second round was being prepared. At his current height Roxas wouldn’t be able to dodge and get a clean strike in and so he resolved to attack it before it could attack him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>While making his final descent, the Dustflier’s head turned and before it could launch it’s fireball, a ball of light hit it in its mouth. Fire exploded within its mouth as the creature threw its head back. That was the opportunity that Roxas needed as he began to spin in the air, coating his Keyblades again in light as he struck the Dustflier head on.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Upon landing Roxas frantically looked around as the creature staggered, hoping that the assistance came from who he hoped it was. A light tap on the shoulder caused him to whip around as he saw her and he smiled ecstatically. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion looked okay, aside from a few tears in her outfit, some dirt and some scratches smudging her features, she looked no worse for wear. Pulling her into a tight embrace, he held her for a few seconds before a screech interrupted their reunion.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you kidding me?!?!” Xion was incredulous and glared at the Dustflier, “How is this thing still standing, how durable is it!?!?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You have no idea.” Roxas flatly told her as they both readied their Keyblades once more. “Can you use Stopga now?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A snap of her fingers answered his question as the creature abruptly halted with its mouth still wide open.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What now?” Xion asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can you copy my dual wielding?” again, with a snap of her fingers and a flash of light, two Keyblades formed in her hands. Roxas noticed that they were different from his and he made a mental note to ask her about it when they were done.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yep.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A devilish smirk on his face, Roxas turned to her, “Now copy my moves.” He charged forwards and Xion followed him as they went onto separate sides of the Dustflier.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As Roxas began to wail on the Heartless, Xion mirrored his every blow as they attacked. Jumping back, they both fired orbs of light as the Stopga wore off and the wyvern was struck by their own barrage, combined with the damage that they dealt to it while it was frozen. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Raising their Keyblades skywards, they both called down one more massive pillar of light to obliterate it and watched as the Dustflier had finally fallen. With sighs of relief, they collapsed onto the ground and took a minute to catch their breaths and collect their thoughts.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Feeling better, they staggered up and wrapped an arm around each other for support as they began to leave the valley. Roxas remembered what he was going to say to her before they were attacked by the Dustflier.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So who won, you know with the Behemoths?” Roxas asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion shook her head, “I don’t know, let’s just call it a tie. I’m too tired to argue about that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fair enough, sorry by the way.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She looked confused, “For what?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I let myself get disoriented and you got hurt because of it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I didn’t want to see you get hurt.” she frowned at him, “It’s fine, I can take a few hits.” she paused before slyly adding, “If you want to make it up to me though, you can let me use the shower first when we get back.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas laughed, “It’s all yours. Next time, I’ll do the protecting though.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion smiled once more, “If you say so.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They still had a considerable amount of time before they made it back to the town and Roxas decided that now was the best time to ask about her Keyblades.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why did your Keyblades look different from mine when you were using two keys?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It took Xion a moment before she realized what he meant, “Oh right! I like to switch between three different Keyblades on occasion. I just like using the Kingdom Key the most.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If you don’t mind me asking, why that one in particular?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion pursed her lips in thought as she considered her answer. “Because it reminds me of you. It was the first Keyblade you used and it reminds me that you’re always by my side” she winked at him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas was flattered, but flustered, “You know how to flatter a guy don’t you?” he sheepishly stuttered.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion was still smirking, “Like I didn’t catch you the other day monologing about what Oathkeeper and Oblivion mean to you.” Roxas’s blush deepened as he remembered that day.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In front of a mirror, Roxas triumphantly held out Oathkeeper. He was practicing a speech he was planning on giving on to Xion at some point.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The Oathkeeper symbolizes the promise that I made to you that I would bring you back and that we would be together again...” shifting the Keyblades around, he held out Oblivion. “...and this Keyblade reminds me of what I lost that terrible day. That without you, I wouldn’t feel whole.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So is that what you think your Keyblades represent?” the voice that called out to him was painfully familiar to him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas whipped around, horrified that Xion had heard him. While they had been dating for a little while by that point, Roxas was still bashful in regards to romantic declarations and had hoped to practice in secret. Xion pulled him into a tight hug before he could run off and hide his embarrassment.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“W-well I-I mean...that is to say-” he was cut off as Xion lightly kissed him and then pulled back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think that’s very sweet of you to say. Thank you, it means a lot to me.” she assured him and she rested her head on his shoulder.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Back in the valley, Roxas was still curious about her other Keyblades. “So what about the other ones?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Coming to a stop, they separated and Xion summoned those two Keyblades again, holding one out towards Roxas, “This one is called “Aubade”.” Roxas recognized that one. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion continued, “An Aubade from what I’ve heard is a poem that talks about two lovers that separate at dawn. I think it’s appropriate in a sense that we became friends in Twilight Town which always looks like it has a perpetual sunset and we have lived in darkness for most of our lives. We never did get to see the sunrise in The World That Never Was.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas took it in as he thought about her answer, it made sense to him. It was a remarkable sight, the first time he saw the sun properly rise. Watching the sunrise was one of the first things that he did with Xion and it felt nice feeling the sunlight wash over him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion held the other Keyblade out, “This one is called “Two Become One” and it especially reminds me of you.” Roxas had to agree: the colors were white and black, had a checkered style pattern on its handle, and the keychain even resembled the insignia that seemed to be associated with him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I like to think its name is also symbolic of the fact that now we’re a couple and we fight as a singular pair. We’re no longer alone anymore, two have become one.” she winked at him again and Roxas was always amazed at how she could make his heart do flips with one simple act but he wanted to know something else.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I have another question.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Go for it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why don’t you dual wield all the time if you can copy my abilities. I could show you how to fight like that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I prefer using one Keyblade.” she simply said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas was unconvinced, “But two Keyblades are better one, that’s just basic math.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion laughed while rolling her eyes, “That’s not how it works. Besides...I like having a free hand.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What for?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“With a free hand, I can easily use items, cast more magic efficiently and…” just like when she hurled him out of the way of the tail swipe, she wrapped her arm around Roxas’s waist and pulled him into a tight embrace, “...get you out of danger and keep you safe.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Unshaken by her flirting, Roxas cupped her face with both of his hands and kissed Xion. She kissed him back and they kissed for a few seconds. When he pulled back, Roxas smugly told her, “Two. Hands.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They both burst out laughing as they continued onwards out of the valley. It was a hard fought battle and they would almost certainly be sore in the morning, but they won.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Please excuse any liberties I took for their abilities. I just thought it would be cool to have them do these kinds of things. It was my first time writing a full battle scene and I hope that I did well.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Looking For An Angel</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Day #5 is Music Duo/Rock Band so here is a vague songfic esque story. Sorry I don’t have much experience with these. Lol The name of the song for this chapter is known as Love’s Vagrant (the Vocal Version) from Bravely Default: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1PR2NYAt_A I’ll talk about why I chose this song in the Endnotes.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Xion hummed to herself as she put things away. There wasn’t a particular song that she was humming but she liked humming while she worked. Normally she’d also be listening to music but there was only one thing she really wanted to listen to and if she started thinking about it she wouldn’t be too productive. The only thing she wanted to listen to right now was Roxas singing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As of late, she found that she was entranced by Roxas’s singing in particular. While she didn’t have much knowledge about singing and what counted as good or bad singing, she likes how Roxas sounds. The only other comparison she has is when she’s heard Lea sing but for whatever reason singing in the shower doesn’t count according to him. Her only other frame of reference was an odd recollection of a song that for some reason was stuck in her head from when she was in the Organization.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Much to her dismay though, Roxas is rather self-conscious when it comes to letting other people hear him sing. The only reason why she even knows that he can sing so well is because she once accidentally eavesdropped on a private rehearsal of sorts.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She had come back from her errands for the day and as usual she announced that she had returned. When she didn’t get an answer she checked around, looking to see if anyone was there. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It didn’t take long for her to hear a voice that while familiar sounded fairly different which led her to a closed door. Recognizing that it leads into Roxas’s room, she was intrigued as to what was going on. Sneaking up to the door, she slightly opened it up and peered in while also listening. It was Roxas, and he was singing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At first she didn’t know what song he was singing, but it sounded lovely and she was more focused on hearing him in particular. From what she could gather, it was a sort of love song though she didn’t know why he was singing it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The song seemed to be about a man looking for a girl that he loves, and how he talks about girls who are like her, but aren’t her. The lyrics sounded nice to her and she fell into a sort of trance. She never knew that Roxas could sing, it was a pleasant surprise to her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the song ended, she involuntarily let out a meaningful sigh. Her reverie was broken by the sound of a gasp and she lost her balance, stumbled into the room, and fell onto the floor on her back. A startled Roxas looked at her with an expression of equal parts mortification, shock, and concern.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Xion! Why are you here and why were you listening?!?!” he stammered profusely.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now it was Xion’s turn to stammer as she rolled over onto her side and sat up. “Sorry Roxas! I just came back and I didn’t know where you were and I followed the sound of your voice!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The initial shock and panic wore off as he calmed down, “Why didn’t you say anything, are you okay?” He extended a hand towards her and she accepted it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She also calmed down as she was pulled to her feet, “Y-yes I’m fine, I was listening to you sing. You never told me that you could sing.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas mumbled something and she didn’t hear him, “Sorry, what was that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I-I said that I didn’t want anyone to hear me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That confused her, “Why not?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas sighed, “I don’t think I sound very good.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion shook her head, “You sound great. You should sing more, I’m sure everyone would love to hear you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not going to happen.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion pouted, “Aw come on, can you at least sing for me then?” From the look that she saw on his face, he was considering it. Disappointingly though, she saw him begin to dart off without answering her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shooting her hand out, she caught him by his wrist, “Wait!” Roxas halted and he waited for her to say something, “What was the name of the song that you were singing?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pausing for a moment, Roxas answered her question, “The song is called Love’s Vagrant.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Love’s Vagrant” she repeated to herself, committing the name to memory. “I’m sorry about spying on you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Not looking at her, Roxas nervously responded, “It’s fine, I should have heard you come in.” He went off after that and she didn’t see him again until a few hours later. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>To her relief, he was his usual chipper self again and they didn’t mention it. Although she was disappointed that he wouldn’t sing for her, there was a consolation prize for her in that experience.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Fortunately for Xion, she has what is known as an eidetic memory. An eidetic memory meant that she more or less has a just about perfect memory. A memory so good, she could even perfectly recall one boy singing that she loved hearing sing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Surveying her handiwork and deciding that she was done, Xion made a little space in her room as she prepared to recall that song again and dance along to his singing for the third time this week. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She understood why Roxas was so hesitant to sing for everyone and didn’t judge him for it. After all, she has her own little secrets that she doesn’t want people to see or know. For instance, Xion loves to dance when no one is looking.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dancing was something that she heard about while she was in the Organization during one of her missions but she never got the chance to try it out. With the abundance of free time that she now had, she started to practice dancing on occasion when no one was around. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Admittedly while she doesn’t have a lot of skill, she likes dancing. She just doesn’t want anyone to watch her move so sporadically and without any rhythm. A part of her wants to see if Roxas would be willing to dance with her but she couldn’t quite muster up the confidence to ask him. So for now her imagination is good enough for her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Anytime she wanted to recall something in vivid detail, Xion would always need to take a moment to get herself ready. She had her own little imaginary stage and audience in her mind to go along with her recollection. It was her, Roxas, and a crowd of non-distinct people. Another secret of hers was that she was hopelessly in love with Roxas. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Not too long after everything calmed down and everyone began to settle into their new normal routines, things changed. Newfound feelings hit Xion like a truck as she began to realize that she was head over heels in love with her best friend. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It made her a little excited but also worried that Roxas was singing a love song in private. Who was he singing about and why would he keep it so secret? It was a little selfish of her, but she likes to think that he’s singing about her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now that she’s also heard the music that accompanies the singing, it helped her create a better image for her little flight of fantasy. As the song began, she closed her eyes and let the memories of Roxas singing flow with the song: </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Aimlessly I wander the world, this place alone, my face unknown and I ask myself where I’m from, who I am but most of all: When will I find you?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This first part always set the mood for her. Admittedly while she may not fully understand what the song is about she liked to imagine that Roxas was singing about her. He was looking for his angel and while he found girls who are like her, they weren’t her and so he would keep searching.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She had no routine nor any real rhythm to her dancing. She let the music carry her on and she twirled, spun, and swayed accordingly to how she felt. In her imagination, Roxas was looking over the crowd and was intently looking for her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“I see a girl. Her eyes as blue as the clearest springs. Captivating like a cryst-fairy’s wings and she enchants whoever she wants to. But oh, that isn’t you.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He looked again, his eyes were beginning to notice her dancing but he didn’t quite find her yet. Instead he looked at a random black haired girl but was still vaguely looking in her direction.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Another girl, with hair as dark as the veil of night. Shimmering as if kissed by starlight, and she invites many to say “I do”. But no, that isn’t you.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dancing harder, she tried to get his attention but he couldn’t quite see her yet. Undeterred, she still danced on as he sang the next part.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“This pass’nate love feels like a flash of light. It’s there, then gone, I want to hold it tight. It always fades and so I chase this ling’ring dream. But I know this light is like a partial link. This vague and hazy chain, what will it bring? The path I walk is just a mystery, I want to scream: Oh, where is my angel?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With a small flourish to her spin, she saw that Roxas’s eyes had widened as he looked over the crowd once more. His gaze scanned over the crowd and finally he saw her, a small smile forming on his face. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her heart began to beat rapidly in her chest as he gazed at her with such fondness in his eyes but then something different happened. Instead of hearing the next verse in her head, she heard Roxas call out to her,</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Xion…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That was odd to her. True, she is imagining him singing a passionate love song to her but he never actually called out her name when he sang.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Xion.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Something was wrong, the voice she heard was more firm now. The melody’s tempo was shattered as she realized that something external was interrupting her thoughts. There was a growing sense of dread over the growing realization she was having.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Xion!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her eyes shot open as she realized that Roxas was staring right at her, and his mouth was agape. Fear washed over her as she realized that he had been watching her flounder around aimlessly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In some way she considered this to be karmic retribution for the other day; she stumbled on him singing and he stumbled onto her dancing. Still she felt mortified that she had an audience for who knows how long.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Trying to speak, Xion found that she couldn’t, she was too embarrassed. Here she was dancing around aimlessly, making a fool of herself in front of her crush and she never realized it. They both stared at each other in mute silence, but someone had to speak up. Thankfully for her, Roxas spoke first.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I heard something stomping around when I was heading back to my room, sorry for barging in.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She squeaked out a response, “It’s fine...I should’ve heard you come in.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was an awkward silence once more before Roxas once again broke the tension, “Sooo-you like to dance?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion nodded, “A little, when no one’s watching.” Mentally she was kicking herself hard over her embarrassment, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Great let’s have an exact repeat of a few days ago. </span>
  </em>
  <span>While she was chiding herself, she missed what Roxas had said to her. “What was that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I asked, what were you dancing to?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Without thinking Xion told him, “That song you were singing the other day, Love’s Vagrant.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You were dancing to me singing?” he cocked his head to the side slightly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Unable to steer the topic away Xion decided to come clean, “I really like hearing you sing.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I see...can you keep dancing?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now she was confused, “What, why?!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was Roxas’s turn to blush, “I liked seeing you dance, you look pretty and energetic when you move like that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was a growing sense of mutual understanding between the two as she figured that he came to the conclusion as she did. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I may as well go for it.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll keep dancing for you on one condition.” she held up a finger and pointed it at him, “I want you to sing for me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He closed his eyes in contemplation for a few seconds and then nodded, “Sure. Is there any place you wanted me to start from?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“From the beginning, my rhythm was broken when you interrupted. Plus I want to hear you sing the whole song.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you promise to dance the whole time?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course.” she smiled at him and he returned the smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just let me get some water and prepare. I’ll be back in a minute or two.” he made to leave.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hearing her heart thumping in her chest, she tried to hide how nervous she really was, “Take your time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As the door shut Xion collapsed onto the bed, resting her head in her hands. </span>
  <em>
    <span>He actually likes seeing me dance, maybe… </span>
  </em>
  <span>she had to focus, </span>
  <em>
    <span> No, I need to focus! I get only one shot at this.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She hadn’t intended to spend her day participating in a mock duet with Roxas and yet here she was, attempting to calm her nerves as he would be watching her the whole time. Even in her daydreams she had a hard enough time when her imaginary Roxas was focusing on her. How would she be able to handle Roxas actually staring at her while she danced?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After she made her mental preparations, she waited for Roxas to return. Just like he promised, he was back within a minute. She was excited to hear him sing. Despite her eidetic memory, nothing would truly beat hearing him sing to her live and in private.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you ready Xion?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes.” she smiled despite herself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She stood up and faced him, Roxas was standing not even a few feet away from her. Looking at her, Roxas began to sing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It amazed her how he went from being so reluctant to sing to suddenly start singing to her so intently. Remembering her part of the bargain, Xion began to dance just like how she initially did. Keeping her eyes open this time, she chose to not stare at Roxas as she moved about. Staring at him would only cause her to lose her focus and stumble. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As he sang, Xion still snuck in a few glances towards Roxas despite herself. From what she saw, he was gazing at her, whether he was looking at her in amazement or horror she couldn’t easily determine.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas got past the part that she was dancing to initially and she couldn’t help but listen to his voice as he sang: </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“I see a girl, her lips as red as a blooming rose. Tempting me, with what only heaven knows. She lives her life however she wants to but oh, that isn’t you…”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One of the glances that she peeked at him after she spun a little made her shiver, he winked at her. From the blush on his face, she could see that he saw her looking at him. This whole ordeal did make her wonder, is Roxas in love with someone?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas never does talk about things such as romance so it made her curious, does he have a type? She’s never seen him staring at other girls and he always seems to treat everyone the same. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Granted he seems to spend more time with her than other people (even more than Lea) but she figures that’s just because they’re super close and best friends. Regardless, she just loves being around Roxas, whether or not they’re a couple doesn’t matter to her. No matter what happens, they’ll still be great friends. She is curious though about how he feels about her, she ultimately can’t deny how she feels about him. That’s a problem for her to worry about later though.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She matched his wink with a wink of her own and she continued dancing. She’s feeling tired but still wants to push on. Roxas continued to sing and she recognized that the song would soon be heading into an instrumental part. A devilish idea formed in her head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After he asked once more as to where his angel was, Xion stepped forward. Fuelled by the passion of the moment she reached out and gripped Roxas’s wrists. Roxas looked surprised but didn’t resist Xion pulling him towards her. Instinctively wrapping their arms around each other, they began to somewhat move in step. Xion was grateful that she wasn’t stepping on his toes because of her impulsive decision.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As the music played on they moved around, not necessarily trying to have a particular sort of rhythm. She stared at him and he matched her gaze unflinchingly as he spun her around. The moment had escalated and she had to do her best to not ruin the moment by laughing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keeping her composure was made difficult by Roxas suddenly dipping her and she had to suppress her surprise as he was suddenly leaning over her. She wrapped her arms around him to keep herself stable and he lifted her back up onto her feet a few seconds later.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Further surprising her, he gently took one of her hands and held it to his cheek while clasping his hand around hers; he began to sing again:</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Somehow it feels like defeat, these brief glimpsed memories. Deep down, I know I failed her. I know I’ll find the truth someday I know I’ll find my way. Let’s hope this fate is kinder!”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Even if it may be just a song, Xion hoped that he still didn’t blame himself for what happened in the past. He never failed her and she knows that he never meant to forget about her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“My heart is aflame, my thoughts run wild. Who is she who has my heart beguiled?” </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once again, she hoped that it was her who had him so enraptured. They’ve spent so much time together that she thinks they could easily be a couple. She shuddered a little as he slipped a hand and around her waist and cupped her face as they slowly spun around again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Much to her chagrin, she can’t even really focus on the singing anymore, only on Roxas and the passion in his eyes. They still moved around as he continued to sing and she managed to catch the last verse.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Because this passionate love can turn the darkness bright. It gives me hope that I can make things right. I can’t give up, all that remains for me is this dream. I’ll find you, my Angel!”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion kept her arms wrapped around him as they lovingly gazed at each other, lips only a few inches away from one another. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Roxas you’ve already made it right. You’ve always been my light in the dark.</span>
  </em>
  <span> The music petered out and they were left alone in silence and they still stared at each other.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>All of a sudden, Roxas shifted his hand to tip her chin upwards and before she knew it, something soft was pressing against her lips. It took her a moment to realize that Roxas was kissing her, he was actually kissing her! The shock of the moment caused her mind to freeze out of shock. Before she could come to her senses and kiss him back, he pulled away and rested his forehead against hers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I finally found my angel…” his voice trailed off as he stroked her cheek and a dopey smile grew on her face. Shortly afterwards he began to blink quickly as his trance like state was broken and he began to realize what he had done. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dropping his arms, he tried to get away but she tightened her grip and quickly pulled him back in for another kiss. She didn’t have enough time to tell him the truth and if she let him get away, she’d lose her only chance to confess to him. To her delight, as she kissed him, he returned her kiss with equal passion. They were both on the same page now and she felt like she got the point across.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When she pulled back, she gave him the only response that she could, “Yes...you have.” There was another question she had for him, “Were you planning on singing that to me for a while?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas nodded dumbly, “Yes I was, though that wasn’t the first time I’ve tried singing to you before.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tilting her head to the side, she was curious, “When?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Back when we were in the Organization and you fell into that deep sleep. I tried singing a song to you, I wasn’t sure as to whether or not you heard it. Honestly, I felt pretty clueless during that time, like I couldn’t do anything for you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So you tried to sing me a song?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You kept me company while I was unconscious so I figured that I’d do the same.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It began to click for Xion as to where she had previously heard that odd fragmented song, she had somehow heard him. “I did hear you, if only a little. What did you sing?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas shrugged, “Honestly I can’t remember.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aw, I wanted to hear that one too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas looked at her sympathetically, “I’m sure I wrote it down in my journal somewhere. Maybe I’ll sing for you again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She laughed, “You should.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Will you dance for me again?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She nodded, “Of course.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was another awkward silence between the two as there was still the elephant in the room that needed to be addressed. Once again, Roxas broke the silence, “So are we a couple now, like boyfriend and girlfriend?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was a teasing look in her eyes, “Kiss me again and I can give you a better answer.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sounds good to me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leaning in again, they were interrupted mere centimeters away by the sound of slow clapping. Both of their faces began to pale as they looked at the new arrival. Lea was standing in the threshold of the doorway with a knowing smirk plastered on his face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not only do I get to see all of the romantic tension between the two of you resolved, but I’ve found a new way for you two to bring in some extra munny.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They both separated and began to profusely deny their musical talents. Lea laughed as he pulled the two into an embrace and proceeded to walk them out of the room.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Let’s go get some ice cream and celebrate the two of you getting together while we also discuss your future musical careers. Don’t worry I’ll be your manager and you two will be the stars of the show, got it memorized?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion looked at Roxas as they both shared another moment of mutual understanding. While they’re unsure as to whether or not they can get out of Lea’s outlandish proposal, she knows that at least they’re now a couple.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They managed to find their angels.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This explanation is going to require spoilers so I’m going to preface it with this statement. I mostly used the parts of the song that I felt were relatable to Roxas and Xion. In the game Bravely Default one of the main characters is a man named Ringabel. <br/>Ringabel has amnesia with his only clue to his identity being a journal that he woke up with. In this journal he writes about a girl that he’s in love with and amusingly forms a flirty personality based on just how flowery he describes this mystery girl. This girl is Edea, another of your party members and while they don’t expressly get together by the end of the game, they are compatible and clearly have feelings for each other.<br/>I felt like their relationship (especially including who Ringabel’s true identity is) is relatable to Roxas and Xion’s relationship. Primarily the part where Roxas is trying to remember Xion, who is the girl that he treasures, by the end of Days. In some sense, they both feel like they failed the person that they loved.<br/>While I may have taken some liberties in regards to the lyrics, I think the song and Ringabel and Edea’s relationship by extension can be related to Roxas and Xion’s relationship. Hopefully I did this right, because Songfics aren’t necessarily my thing unfortunately. I’m always willing to give something a shot though if I can be creative enough.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The Days After</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Day 6 is all about after KH3/Adjusting to Normal life. So here’s a little slice of life as Roxas and Xion remark about how different things are now.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Things were certainly different now. While Xion hadn’t been expecting to be freed from Sora’s heart alongside Roxas, she was happy nonetheless. Alongside Roxas, Lea, and the others she was there when Xehanort’s final schemes were foiled. It still felt so surreal to her, that everyone actually remembers her now. She gets to be with her friends again; her only real question though is what to do now?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The first thing they did was to return to Twilight Town and have ice cream. Before they went to the clock tower though, she was dragged to a clothing store so that she could finally get rid of that coat she had worn for so long. The girl that she learned was Olette had volunteered to take her shopping and she was slightly overwhelmed at first by how many options there were.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There were many choices that she considered but she settled on a simple outfit. She chose a nice sleeveless black blouse with buttons, a belt, and white frills along with a white undershirt and some black boots to go with it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In a way it reminded Xion of her previous coat, but it felt nice to feel so loose. For some odd reason, she wondered what Roxas would think of it in particular with a blush appearing on her face as she looked at herself in the mirror. Olette paid for her outfit and Xion resolved to find a way to pay her back. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When they got to the clock tower, she saw that Axel (now known as Lea) and Roxas also had some new outfits. Lea had a short sleeved coat with a plaid shirt and black pants. She thought he looked nice but she found herself drawn to Roxas. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He had a mostly white jacket with a slight checkerboard pattern with a black vest as well as black and white pants. The thing that truly drew her eye though was the piece of metal on the zipper that reminded her of the Recusant’s Sigil.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>To her amusement, she saw him staring at her with his mouth agape and wide open as he curiously regarded her. A blush crept onto her face under his intent gaze as she looked at him with an unfamiliar sense of fondness. Lea broke the newfound silence between the two though.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She was going to ask about the X on Roxas’s zipper but she didn’t get a chance to as the new people she was introduced to took their places on the ledge as well as Saïx, who she now knew was really called Isa. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Isa had on an overcoat and matching pants with a crescent moon emblem by where his heart was. She was reminded of their old organization outfits. While she was honestly a little scared at the prospect of seeing him again, she was willing to give him a second chance.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lea obviously still regarded Isa as someone dear to him and if he still liked Isa, then he couldn’t be that bad. Plus she also learned that he was responsible for helping her and Roxas come back, so in a sense she felt like she owed him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She wasn't able to really talk to anyone in private until after the party on Destiny Islands but she didn’t mind it. There were so many new people and she knew that she had all of the time that she wanted now to hang out with Roxas and Lea. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When she approached Roxas the following day in their new home, he smiled at her like he always did. At the time she didn’t know why Roxas’s smile had this sort of weakening effect on her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey Roxas, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay” he patted the area next to him where he was seated and she sat down next to him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where did you get those clothes from?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas fiddled with the X that was hanging from the zipper, “If you can believe it, I have no idea. Apparently I was just born with them.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion was baffled by his explanation, “Really?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah apparently when Xemnas found me, I was wearing this and Lea gave them back to me the other day before we went to the clock tower.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why did he have your clothes?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He shrugged, “I guess he kept them for when we’d eventually get our hearts and be done with the Organization. I like your clothes.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She returned his smile, “Thank you, Olette helped me pick it out. I was probably going to go shopping again in a few days.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sounds good. I bet you’ll look nice in anything that you pick out.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was a moment of silence as a blush crept onto both of their faces. Feeling that things had become awkward, Roxas excused himself and left.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Clothes became a way for her to experiment and try out all sorts of new looks. Now that she wasn’t limited to just the same black coat and pants she was free to consider other colors. There were some colors in particular that she felt drawn to in particular.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Purple was a nice color that immediately drew her eye, she found that it complemented her black outfits nicely. She heard that the color purple represents things such as royalty, luxury, creativity, and extravagance. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In all honesty she could see it; her purple outfits often looked comfy to her and she noticed that it seems to draw attention to herself. While she knew that other colors also had those kinds of meaning, she was more content to just pick out the colors that she liked looking at, regardless of meaning.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Orange, white, and black were other colors that she liked. Orange looked relaxing to her and it also reminded her of the sunset in Twilight Town. White reminded her of the outfits that Roxas would wear and she found that whenever she wore white her and Roxas’s outfits would be matching. Black was always a nice constant that she could go back to though, it was a familiarity that she was used to. Olette would often go shopping with her to help provide recommendations which Xion was grateful for.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion was holding up two jackets towards Olette, a purple one and a black one. She wanted to get her opinion on which looked better. Olette paused for a moment before pointing at the purple one.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The brunette smiled, “That one. I bet Roxas is going to scream when he sees you in that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion tilted her head to the side in confusion, “Scream? Am I trying to scare Roxas?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The other girl laughed, “No it’s just an expression, though I think he’ll like it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion smiled expectantly, “Are you sure?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sure.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>While Xion liked getting clothes that she liked, she had an ulterior motive in mind whenever she went shopping. When she went looking for new clothes, for whatever reason she was interested in getting Roxas’s attention. With the gift of hindsight it was certainly obvious as to why she wanted to get him to notice her but at the time she was unsure as to why.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Each time she went to meet Roxas, he liked how she looked. At least that’s what she saw when he looked at her and his eyes lit up. Another thing that she had to get used to was the idea of having lots and lots of days off.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>During their time in the Organization Roxas was once flabbergasted at the prospect of summer vacation, several months where you get to have days off. He remarked at the time that he wouldn’t even know what to do with all of that free time. From what she saw, Roxas had a much easier time adapting to their new schedule than she did.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A few weeks later when they were all truly settled in, she had her first proper day living like a normal person. She woke up at the same time as she was used to back in the Organization and went about her normal routine. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She showered and then got fully dressed as she always would and made her way to the living room. Just like how it was in the Organization she waited around for someone to come to the main area. Unsure of what to do, she checked her new gummi phone and fiddled around with it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hearing the sounds of feet clambering down stairs, she stood up and at attention like how she always would when she was awaiting her mission for the day. A tired Isa lumbered down the stairs and regarded her with a curious expression. The two of them stared at each other until Xion spoke up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So what are we doing today?” she nonchalantly asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Isa’s expression was still a confused one, “Uh, we’re not doing anything today. Just relaxing…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Really?” her shoulders relaxed as she sat back down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, life isn’t just missions. Do you remember what a day off is?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, though in all fairness we never really got much of a day off.” Xion smiled sheepishly, briefly remembering just how many missions the blue haired man had assigned her, Roxas, and Lea.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fair enough.” The awkward silence had returned as they both avoided looking at each other. Isa broke the tension this time. “I didn’t expect you to be awake and so ready, I figured you’d be sleeping right now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This is the usual time I woke up to get ready for missions.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s seven in the morning.” he flatly said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In response Xion narrowed her eyes, “You were always very strict about me and Roxas getting up on time.” realizing what she said, she softened her expression, “Sorry.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Isa shook his head, “It’s fine, was there anything you wanted to do since you're up and about?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well what do you normally do at this time?” Xion asked him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Isa shrugged, “Usually I just make something to eat while I collect my thoughts for the day.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can I help you? I always did want to learn how to cook a little better.” Xion remembered the time she tried making that puppy some food. She wasn’t quite sure how it came out but it didn’t look very appealing to her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With a small smile Isa motioned her to follow him as she followed him into the kitchen. “We’ll make breakfast for the others, do pancakes sound good?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What are pancakes?” Xion was interested.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Isa regarded her for a moment before he realized the obvious, “You didn’t get much of a chance to eat things other than what was in the castle, did you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She shrugged, “Aside from Sea Salt ice cream, I didn’t experiment a whole lot with food. It all just blended together for me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Isa frowned, “That was an unfortunate part of being a nobody, food and drinks just didn’t taste the same. I’m sure you’ve noticed it with the ice cream you had the other day right?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She nodded, “Yeah, the ice cream seemed a lot more sweeter and saltier than I remembered.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Isa got out some boxes and bowls, “Food will taste a lot better now to you, though now we all have to worry about things such as calories. But for now let’s get to work, I’ll walk you through and then we can wake up those two slackers and eat breakfast together.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She gave him a thumbs up, “Sounds good to me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion appreciated having this moment with Isa when it was just the two of them. Back in the Organization he was always so irritable, surly, and borderline cruel to be around. But now here she was just casually making food with him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>While she was still uneasy around him, seeing Isa in a more relaxed setting helped her relax. She found that she had some common ground with her former boss.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They both like dogs and the two began to make plans in secret to adopt a dog at some point, though they would still need to get Roxas and Lea on board. That was a discussion for a later date though as first she wanted to eat. Isa was right, the pancakes do look nice.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She looked at them enticingly as she felt her stomach rumble in anticipation. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Isa broke her out of her trance though by reminding her that they need to get Lea and Roxas up. Isa said that he would wake up Lea while she would get Roxas. She darted off as she quickly found his room and brazenly entered, not bothering to knock.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He was still fast asleep and Xion knew she had to wake him up if she wanted to eat. She began to call out to him, with an incomprehensible noise answering her call. Undeterred she kept calling out to him, almost pleading for him to wake up. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Finally his eyes slowly slid open as he looked at her curiously while yawning. He reached out to her, lazily stroking her face much to her confusion.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey beautiful why are you shouting at me?” his voice was slightly slurred and there was a dopey smile on his face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She ignored his remark as she moved his hand away and called out to him again, “Come on, it’s time for breakfast, we can’t eat without you so please get up.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas whined a little, “Why do you have to be like that, can’t you just stay with me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now Xion was absolutely confused, “Do you think you’re still asleep?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That smile was still present on his face, “You’re still my dream girl regardless…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She rolled her eyes, “What is up with you Roxas?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s up with you looking so cute? If we have to go can you at least carry me…?” he half asked, half slurred. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She still ignored what he said, not understanding what he’s talking about but she nodded at his request to be carried. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Forgive me Roxas but if I wait for you the pancakes will go cold.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If it lets us eat quicker then sure.” she smiled and then snatched him up in her arms as his eyes now jerked wide open. He looked at her with a panicked expression as she smiled at him and then carried him out of the room.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good morning Roxas!” Roxas instinctively snapped his arms around Xion to prevent himself from falling immediately as she carried him, setting him down when he began wiggling around in her grip.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can put me down Xion!” Roxas was trying to make sense of what happened.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, sorry!” she moved away, “Sorry for bothering you but breakfast is ready, me and Isa made it together.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So that’s why you woke me up?” he yawned and then stretched his arms and then smiled at her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She gripped his hands as she began to pull him forwards, “Yep, we’re just waiting for you now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He laughed as he freed his hands from her grip and walked ahead of her, “You know I need to get you back now for this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She shook her head while smiling, “No you don’t, I was doing you a favor by getting you up.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes I do, it may not be now, nor even later on. But at some point, I will get you back.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before she could retort, a voice called out from below “If you two are done being cute, we’d like to eat now!” It was Lea who was now also awake.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sorry!” they both called out in unison and went to join Lea and Isa at the table. True to Roxas’s word, he made good on his promise to get her back though he didn’t do it for a while, which always put her on edge whenever she woke up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A little while after they started dating, he made his move one morning. Xion was sleeping as Roxas snuck in and quietly stood over her. He briefly contemplated his next action as he looked at her fondly while she slept. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sometimes they still left little trinkets for each other over night as they slept, a tradition that they started while they were in the Organization. That wasn’t why Roxas was here though as he leaned over her and lightly shook her to wake her up. As she opened her eyes somewhat, she didn’t regard him much. With a mischievous smile on his face, he leaned down and whispered into her ear.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Payback time.” he then proceeded to start tickling her as she started squirming immediately and burst out laughing, now wide awake and alert.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“P-please R-roxas stop, I give-I give” she said in between bursts of laughter as Roxas relentlessly tickled her while she was unable to defend herself. He pulled back and watched Xion catch her breath.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you promise to not wake me up like that again?” Roxas teased her as he loomed over her, threateningly wiggling his fingers in her direction.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>On instinct, she attempted to scooch back away from his hands, “Yes! Can I give you a peace offering, as a sign of trust?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas arched an eyebrow, “What kind of offering?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Instead of answering, she gripped his shirt and pulled him down while lifting her head up to kiss him and he kissed her back for a few seconds. Pulling back she looked at him fondly, “Truce?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He kissed her forehead, “Truce.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When she had confessed to Roxas and he returned her feelings, it made her so happy. Every day from that point forward always felt good to her to an extent. Even when she had a bad day, she always knew that she could count on him and he could count on her being there. When she revealed a dark secret of hers, she was surprised when he easily accepted it and revealed a little secret of his own.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Truth be told, she’s jealous of Roxas. When they gained their hearts, Roxas and Xion both began their new lives together but Roxas already had a leg up on her and it made her feel somewhat distant from him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He already had friends, and knew about all sorts of things that she didn’t. It made her worried that he wouldn’t be her friend as much, too distracted by other things. The two of them dating unfortunately brought some of those feelings to the forefront.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>During the early days of their relationship she felt a sharp emotion when she saw how other girls approached him, it was a negative feeling that she couldn’t describe. When she described the feeling to Isa, he told her that what she was feeling was jealousy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s how you felt about Lea hanging out with me and Roxas.” Xion recalled Isa’s last words in the Keyblade Graveyard as Lea held him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes.” he said, not breaking her stare, “Emotions are a tricky thing to consider. They can be a great source of strength but it can also cloud your thoughts.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is it okay to feel this way?” she started to feel distressed by the idea of jealousy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Isa patted her on the shoulder in an attempt to reassure her, “A little jealousy is ok. It shows that you deeply care about someone. Just don’t do what I did and let it consume you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you think Roxas gets jealous?” she was saddened by seeing Isa beat himself up like that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Given how protective he gets whenever Riku tries to talk to you, I’d say he does. I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you. The two of you are still adjusting to having hearts, if you still feel troubled though, just talk to him and see how he feels.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I will, thank you Isa.” she left to go find Roxas after that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jealousy was an appropriate way to describe how she felt. It still felt silly to her though that she was looking at Roxas like that though. They’ve always been friends before they even understood what friendship was, why would she let this kind of thing get in the way of their relationship.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She found Roxas on the clock tower like she thought she would. When she told Roxas all of this, he simply nodded in understanding and leaned into her so that he could whisper something to her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Honestly I’m jealous of you.” he moved back and watched her process his words.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What, why?” she couldn’t comprehend what he meant by that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You got to learn about all of these things properly, I never got that chance. Everything I know about Hayner, Pence, Olette and all of the other people and things in Twilight Town is because someone else put it inside of me. Remember when I told you about that digital Twilight Town?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She wordlessly nodded and he continued, “Even though those memories are fake, I still remember them as if they actually happened. I never got a chance to properly meet my friends here, you did. My memories and experiences were just planted within me without any concern about me. I’m just lucky that everyone accepted me so quickly. You got to experience something that I didn’t, a chance to actually explore a new life and learn about new things.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He gave her a moment to take in his words but before he could continue she cut him off, pulling him into a hug, “I’m sorry that I never thought of it like that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He tightened the hug, “Don’t be, I didn’t mean to turn it into a competition. I’m just glad that we adjusted so quickly. Besides I could never be mad at you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion nuzzled herself into the crook of his neck, “Look on the bright side, at least we can live together and learn about these kinds of things together. That’s what you promised me when we started dating, right?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a quick moment, she pulled back so that she could flash him the ring that he gave her when he confessed. Seeing him smile in recognition, she renuzzled herself into the crook of his neck as he planted a kiss on the side of her head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes...we can, we’ll learn more together. I love you.” Roxas murmured. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I love you too…” she closed her eyes and let her mind calm down as she focused on the boy that she treasures.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you enjoyed this. I personally do find it sad in a way that Roxas more or less had a second life forcibly grafted onto him and it still feels as real as his life as a nobody in Organization XIII. Xion would also have a hard time in terms of just needing to learn everything about living normally. Life in the Organization did not prepare them for what would come after they got hearts. I like to think that he and Xion have different struggles in terms of adapting to normal life. So long as they have each other though (and Lea to still act as a big brother more or less alongside Isa now) they’ll be fine and adjust nicely to regular life.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. We’re Together Now, We’re Safe Now</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>RX Week Day 7 is a Free Day. So here’s some fluffy angst as they comfort each other after a nightmare.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The sound of Keyblades clashing rang out as Sora was forced back. A possessed Xion approached him menacingly with her Keyblade poised to strike. Littered about the arena were the unconscious forms of Lea and Kairi as it was just her and Sora.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Snap out of it!” Sora dodged a violent swing as Xion yelled in return.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She was still slowly walking towards him, light beginning to gather in her Keyblade as she promptly raised it into the air and then called down pillars of light as Sora did his best to dodge. Once more he pleaded for Xion to stop, but his voice didn’t sound the same, it sounded like Roxas.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In her mind, Xion could only watch in horror as her body was moving against her own will as she fought Sora. She wanted to stop, she recognized the voice as Roxas’s voice. Roxas was somehow speaking to her and he was desperate to get her to stop fighting.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I wish I could Roxas! I really wish I could!</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She was desperate to stop herself, to prevent herself from harming Sora. But she could see that he was slowly getting more and more hurt. As he cried out in pain, it was Roxas who cried out in pain and she was horrified. It was her worst fear, being forced to fight her best friend again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Just like before, she was an unwilling puppet, being used by someone else as she continued to wail on Sora. He was doing his best to not hurt her, presumably an influence of Roxas who didn’t want to hurt her again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sora was thrown on his back as he was overpowered and knocked out of the fight. Xion smirked as she approached him one more time despite her internal protests and screaming. She was desperate to do something, anything! She just wants to stop! She doesn’t want to hurt Sora, and she especially doesn’t want to hurt Roxas.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A beam of light got in her way as she covered her eyes from the light’s blinding radiance. When the light dissipated, it was him, Roxas.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He had a pleading look in his eyes, “Xion please, don’t do this. I don’t want to hurt you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion didn’t respond but she readied her Keyblade once more. In her mind, she was desperately thrashing about, wanting to stop. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Please Roxas, stop me! I can’t bear the idea of trying to kill you again.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She could only watch in horror as her body began to ferociously fight Roxas as he didn’t attempt to fight back. He was still pleading with her to step down with tears in his eyes now. It hurt her to see him so devastated, and she can’t do anything to stand down. She’s a puppet now in every sense of the word.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eventually she managed to win out over Roxas’s defenses and delivered a nasty slash across his chest, causing him to sink to his knees in defeat. Xion started crying as she knew that she was too late to stop herself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Casually walking over to Roxas, she raised a foot and kicked him down to the ground as he effortlessly crumpled to the dirt without any struggle. Standing over Roxas with her Keyblade pointed at his heart, she could only see the other boy close his eyes in reluctant acceptance as she readied one final strike. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a brief moment, as she plunged her Keyblade downwards, she saw his face one more time. She saw Roxas with eyes shut in anguished acceptance as he silently mouthed to her, “I forgive you.”. Right before she stabbed him in the heart, she woke up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion shot up in a cold sweat as she quickly looked around at her surroundings. She then brought her hands to her face, making sure that she was still in control of her own body. Taking deep breaths, she tried to calm herself down as she realized that it was only just a nightmare. This had been the third time this month that she had such nightmares.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nightmares had started to plague her since things had settled down. The kinds of nightmares she had while varied were still consistent with one theme; losing control of her body. That was something she feared, being reduced to a puppet again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Another theme of her nightmares is the idea of losing Roxas, the boy that she treasures. A disturbing amount of her nightmares involved her killing Roxas, such as being forced to relieve their fight in front of the clock tower, only winning their struggle. It made her worried as to whether or not she can even trust herself around Roxas. What if she hurt him again?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Such fears and trepidations had even led her to start unconsciously distancing herself from Roxas, much to his confusion and hurt. This especially troubled her as they were supposed to be a couple. They’re supposed to trust each other, yet here she is avoiding him. No, she needs to talk to him, she needs to tell him about what she’s dealing with.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She wants to be open with him, she told him about how she felt jealous and he told her about his secrets. So she should be able to open up to him about this. It isn’t that different from how he used to comfort her whenever she felt awful when they were in the Organization. So what harm can asking him to comfort her one more time do?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She found herself in front of Roxas’s bedroom. Normally she isn’t supposed to be in his room at this time, but she wants to see him. Her hand hovered at the door, unsure if she should knock. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I could always come back in the morning. I don’t want to bother him at this time.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before she could leave though, she heard the sound of crashing and rustling. Hesitantly, she opened the door and peered in. It was Roxas and he was thrashing about, she couldn’t leave him like this. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She approached his bed and gently gripped him, trying to keep him stable. “Roxas-Roxas!” She wanted him to wake up as he was obviously distressed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His eyes shot up as he regarded her with a wild expression. It took him a moment to realize she was actually there before he shot his arms up to hug her tightly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Xion!” he was frantic and she did her best to hug him back despite being suddenly pressed against Roxas and the mattress.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Roxas what happened?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I had a bad dream, it was horrible.” Roxas’s breath was beginning to slow down as he began to calm down, much to her relief.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You want to tell me about it?” she put her previous worries away as she wanted to see what was wrong with him first.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>From what she could see, Roxas realized the obvious, “What are you doing here?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I also had a nightmare, I wanted to see you. There’s something I want to talk to you about.” she sympathetically told him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So it’s happening to you too as well?” Roxas’s face was panged with sympathy. He sat up and she followed him, continuing to wrap her arms around him as she now had a better grip to hug him with and sat down on the bed with him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I wanted to talk to you about some of the things I’ve been seeing lately. I was going to originally just talk to you tomorrow but I heard you thrashing about and I was worried about you.” she wanted to tell him the truth, she didn’t want to hide anything else from him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas released his grip on her and she leaned back as well, though he still gently held her hand.  “Did you want to start?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What about you Roxas?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas shook his head, “I’m more concerned about you.” he silenced her before she could protest, “You’ve been distant lately and I’m honestly a little worried. Like I did something wrong. I’ll tell you about my nightmares after you’re done.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Taking a deep breath, Xion thought about where to start. She figured that it would be better to start from the beginning.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ve been having these nightmares lately, like I’ve been reduced to a puppet again. Everytime it happens, I can only watch in horror as my body is forced to do whatever someone else wants.” she felt Roxas’s grip tighten as he compassionately squeezed her hand. Taking another deep breath, she continued.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Another thing that disturbs me is how much you’re a part of my nightmares.” Roxas frowned, but was waiting for her to continue. She looked him in the eyes, “So many of my nightmares involve hurting you, or even killing you. I’m worried that it’s a bad sign of things to come. That I’ll end up hurting you again and-” she never got a chance to finish as he pulled her into another hug, cutting her off.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You won’t hurt me again.” Roxas tried to reassure her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How can you be so sure? What if I end up trying to absorb you again?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Because I know that you never wanted to do any of that. And I especially know that I love you too much to ever suspect you, we’re complete now. I’m not worried in the slightest.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion was still silent as he asked her another question, “Is that why you’ve been avoiding me lately?” Xion wordlessly nodded as she tightened her grip on him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I thought I did something to hurt you. I don’t want the two of us to ever be forced apart again. You could never drive me away no matter what, that’s the truth.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you.” she finally let go as they separated again, though this time she lovingly caressed his cheek. “Now it’s your turn. Tell me what’s wrong, I want to be there for you as well.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay.” he looked into her eyes as he attempted to collect his thoughts. “Whenever I have a nightmare, it’s about losing you, about failing you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion took in his explanation with a simple nod as she began to rub his cheek with her thumb.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sometimes it’s when we were forced to fight each other. How I ended up killing you. Other Times I’m forced to relive that moment where I was fighting through The World That Never Was, trying to save you while also trying to hold onto my memories of you.” he was beginning to shiver slightly as she shifted herself towards him, ready to comfort him if she needed to.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But sometimes, like tonight I’m forced back to just watching from Sora’s heart as you’re forced to be one of Xehanort’s pawns. I’m trying and trying to break free so that I can get you to stop but I can’t reach out to you.” He took another deep breath so that he could better compose himself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It built a disturbing image in her mind as she’s seen such a thing before. When she briefly became a part of his consciousness, she saw things from his eyes. She saw him cut down heartless after heartless as he was reduced to just screaming her name in a vain attempt to remember her. At the time, she felt so guilty that she had brought him to this state.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It only made things worse as she managed to reach out to Riku to get him to stop Roxas’s rampage before he got himself destroyed. So she could imagine the sort of grief that he felt whenever he had that kind of nightmare. Xion continued to listen to Roxas as he told her more.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“When I do break free, I’m too late. Xemnas cut you down and I can only just hold you as I watch you fade away. It feels like...I’m just-” Tears were beginning to form, but before he could start crying he was cut off as Xion began to kiss him in quick rapid succession.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>While she wasn’t sure as to whether or not it was proper to kiss him like this, she at least wants him to know that she’s here for him. He returned her kisses with equal fervor as she cradled his face in her hands and he pulled her closer to him. When he calmed down, he pulled away and looked at her with longing in his eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I just don’t want to lose you again. If I lost you again, I wouldn’t be able to handle it. I don’t want to forget you again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So is that why you’ve been so overprotective lately?” She recalled just how strict he had been of late about keeping an eye on her. It had honestly even annoyed her a little just how he would always be hovering over her, even when she just wanted to talk to someone else for a little bit.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It made sense that he would be a little overprotective when it came to someone like Seifer who would flirt with her sometimes while they had to work on a town project together, much to her dislike. But lately he had been putting himself between their other friends, it made her a little worried that something was bothering Roxas. Like he didn’t trust her to be alone with other guys.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to impose on you. I was worried that I hurt you when you started distancing yourself from me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I mean I did want a little space, but I’m sorry that I’d been giving you the cold shoulder. That wasn’t my intention.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas managed a weak smile, “No, I should’ve realized that something was wrong. I’ll do my best to calm down around other people.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She chuckled, “And I’ll be sure to let you know if I need to talk to you. That I shouldn’t just distance myself.” She gave him another kiss and he happily reciprocated.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, but can I ask you something?” Roxas shuffled nervously.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course.” Xion smiled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can you stay with me tonight? I just want to know that you’re here.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion pulled Roxas into another hug as she laid down, pulling him down with her. Her chin was resting on top of his head as he was nestled into the crook of her neck. He was wrapped up in her embrace as he fiercely hugged her. Xion in turn had him in a sort of makeshift cocoon.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She used her arms to hold him in place and wrapped her legs around him. Xion wanted to hold Roxas tight, she wanted to know that he was safe, that she wouldn’t try to harm him again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is this okay?” asked Xion as she felt herself getting tired again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes…thank you.” Roxas murmured, he was already starting to drift off again. Unable to help herself, she kissed the top of his head as she slowly stroked his back. He groaned slightly at her ministrations.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can you do that again?” he mumbled and she kissed the top of his head again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After an uncertain amount of time had passed, he had fallen asleep and she felt his body go slack as his breathing slowed and he relaxed. While she was unsure about how Lea or Isa would react to this, she wanted to do this. Truth be told, she just wants to hold Roxas as well.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She began to shift around as she wiggled down until she was face to face with him. His face looked so serene to her as she let her forehead touch his and began to drift off herself. As she began to let sleep take her, she thought to herself a little.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>This is just like how it was in the Organization. He would comfort me and we’d just stay together until I fell asleep. Just once I wanted to fall asleep in his arms. Every time I fell asleep like that, I felt a little disappointed when I woke up and I was all alone. He always felt so nice to hold onto. It always felt right to me. I hope we can keep doing this in the future.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When she woke up, she woke up to Roxas still fast asleep and still wrapped up in her embrace. She managed to crane her head over him as she saw Isa staring right at the pair from the still open door. From the look on his face, she could tell that they were obviously going to talk about this later, but otherwise left her alone. He closed the door and moved away, leaving her alone with Roxas.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Taking a moment to readjust herself, she relaxed her posture and was just content to stare at him, lazily stroking his face. She honestly didn’t want to wake him up, he looked too cute to her. It surprised her then when she heard him talk to her, “So how long are you going to keep staring at me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion played along, not moving from her position and content to just lie down, wrapped up in their embrace. “For as long as I want to.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She moved her arm to cup his face and then gently kissed him, she happily hummed into the kiss as they just enjoyed the moment. Afterwards, she spoke up when they stopped kissing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ve always wanted to do that, wake you up with a kiss.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll be sure to keep it in mind.” Roxas winked at her, “Did you ever want to do that when I was in that deep sleep?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If I knew that it would wake you up, then I would’ve. You always do look rather peaceful when you sleep. Did you ever think about kissing me when I was sleeping?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know I heard that one of those Princesses of Heart was woken up from a deep sleep because of a prince kissing her. If I knew about that at the time then I probably would’ve tried it, although I had no clue what a kiss even meant back then.” he sneaked in another kiss, to emphasize his point.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well now you know. We do have to talk about this to Isa and Lea though. Isa saw me when I woke up.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas nodded but he smirked at her, “Well so long as they think we’re still asleep then I think we can get away with this for a little while longer.” He pulled her back in and they fell asleep once more. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When they finally went down to talk to their two caretakers, it went over more smoothly then they thought it would. This had been the first time they had been caught sleeping together since the rules had been established so the two were curious rather than mad. While they’ve certainly cuddled before, they’ve never actually fallen asleep together before.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was Lea who addressed the two, “So why were you two sharing the same bed?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas spoke up first, “I asked her to stay with me for the night. I was scared.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Isa arched an eyebrow, “Scared? Are you suffering from nightmares?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas nodded and Xion spoke up as well, “We both are. I woke up last night early in the morning from a nasty nightmare in particular and I wanted to see Roxas. We’re sorry for breaking your rules.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lea frowned, “Don’t worry about those rules, we know that you’re responsible enough to behave yourselves. We feared that there was a possibility of the two of you developing nightmares from everything that’s happened.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas spoke this time, “Are we going to keep having these nightmares, will they ever go away?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now it was Isa who frowned as he told him the truth, “The nightmares will always be there to an extent. You’ll just learn how to deal with them better.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion piped up, “It didn’t feel so scary when I was with Roxas. Maybe if we’re together it won’t be so bad.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before either Lea or Isa could speak up, Roxas spoke again. “If it’s alright with you two. Can me and Xion share the same bed now?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lea smiled, “Just so long as you don’t use it as an excuse to always sleep together. Got it memorized?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The couple both nodded in unison and answered together, “Sounds good!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Isa gave a silent thumbs up in approval and everyone left to go get ready for the day.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sure enough, Xion found that she wasn’t distancing herself from Roxas anymore as she relaxed once more around him. When they went up to the clock tower again, she sighed in relief as she leaned against him once more, not worried about losing control again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas also calmed down when she had to talk to Seifer in regards to organizing the town’s next movie night. Granted, she did notice him twitch uncomfortably when he tried slyly hitting on her again. It was almost like all of their previous tension had disappeared though she wouldn’t know for sure until they tried sleeping together again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Later on that night, she was settling herself in Roxas’s bed as he was sitting at the edge. Xion first tried to fall asleep alone but she felt that familiar sense of fear and isolation wash over her and she found herself at Roxas’s door again. He was more than happy to let her in and she felt relaxed at how inviting his room was.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It did feel a little funny to her that Lea had said not to just always sleep together but she can’t quite help how she feels. Roxas and her debated a little over what their sleeping arrangement was going to be. Eventually they managed to agree on having her snuggle Roxas under the grounds that he cuddled her last time.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you sure about this?” Xion warily asked as Roxas rested his chin on her head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course. It’s only fair that I do this for you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you going to wake me up with a kiss tomorrow as well?” she teased.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Only if you want me to.” Roxas flatly told her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Then I expect a kiss tomorrow.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ok.” he then relaxed as she settled into her makeshift pillow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Xion decided to ask him another question, “Will we be able to keep doing this?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t see why we can’t. Once we get our own place, we can do whatever we want.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She laughed, “Don’t you think it’s too soon to start talking about having our own home?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I can dream about it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That sounds like a nice dream.” she closed her eyes and let sleep begin to take her. This time as she slept, she had another dream.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She was back in the Keyblade Graveyard and just like before she was fighting Roxas again. This time though, things were different. Instead of being wounded and out of the fight, Lea, Kairi, and Sora were all watching with anticipation and called out to Xion to fight off Xehanort’s influence. And this time, she was actively fighting off the dark magic as she felt herself regaining control of her body.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was when Roxas arrived though and began to cheer her on that she truly found the resolve to throw off Xehanort’s influence. Expelling the dark corruption from her body, Xion felt relieved and exhausted simultaneously and could feel herself being pulled down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When she staggered to the ground, Roxas stood in front of her with a hand outstretched who offered to pick her up off the ground which she took. With her friends watching, she weakly pulled Roxas into another embrace as she felt the surrounding area dissipate around her as she felt the familiar pull of sleep again. She knew that he couldn’t actually hear her but she still had a nice thought lull her to sleep.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>So long as I’m with you Roxas, I’ll always be fine. I’ll always be there for you too. We’re two halves of the same whole and we’ll always be together now.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This was certainly a fun week to write for and I’m glad that I decided to keep writing. I’d like to thank my friends on the Rokushi discord server that more or less got me into writing. Their feedback and all feedback in general inspires me to keep writing, it lets me know that people are interested in what I have to say. So long as people are still interested in what I write then I don’t mind continuing to write. I’ll see you next time I post something.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I absolutely love pictures of Xion wearing one of Roxas’s rings. It’s a concept that I didn’t know that I wanted to see until I saw it for the first time.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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